MASTER 
NEGATIVE 


NO 


92-80621 


MICROFILMED  1992 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES/NEW  YORK 


as  part  of  the 
"Foundations  of  Western  Civilization  Preservation  Project" 


Funded  by  the 
NATIONAL  ENDOWMENT  FOR  THE  HUMANITIES 


Reproductions  may  not  be  made  without  permission  from 

Columbia  University  Library 


COPYRIGHT  STATEMENT 


The  copyright  law  of  the  United  States  -  Title  17,  United 
States  Code  -  concerns  the  making  of  photocopies  or  other 

reproductions  of  copyrighted  material.., 

Columbia  University  Library  reserves  the  right  to  refuse  to 
accept  a  copy  order  if,  in  its  judgement,  fulfillment  of  the  order 
would  involve  violation  of  the  copyright  law. 


AUTHOR: 


WINSTON,  JAM 

EDWARD 


TITLE: 


ENGLISH  TOWNS 
WARS  OF  THE 

PLACE: 

PRINCETON 

DA  TE : 

1921 


TUP 


ES 


Master  Nepativp  # 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

BIBLIOGRAPIIIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


Master  Negative  # 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


I942.O44 

\7733 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


i«^iii  ■  It*  I 


■.|i,Wjiijii«  ■  Jiuir 


'"**V'l||W»llllll|IMll»«|i|l,,1|»««.^ 


Winston,  James  Edward.  ' 

W-"  ^^^^^^^  to^vns  in  the  wars  of  the  Eoses,  by  James  E. 
Winston  ...  Princeton,  Princeton,  .miiversity  press- 
[etc.,  etc.]  1921.  ^       / 

V,  82  p.    23i''". 

Thesis  (PH.  D.)— University  of  Pennsylvania,  1914. 
Bibliography:  p.  IZ-ll, 


Gt^'EsI:  ^'^{;^Ytl'e!"-^^^"  ""^  ^^"^  ^- '^''  1455-1485.    2.  Cities  and  towns- 

Library  of  Congress  /^      DA250.W5  21-21413 

Univ.  of  Pennsylvania 


■-Copy^. 


0 


c2j 


S*" 


FILM     SIZE:__35^___ 
IMAGE  PLACEMENT:    lA  HI. 
DATE     FILMED: 


TECHNICAL  MICROFORM  DATA 
REDUCTION     RATIO:__j^X[. 


Z^IZlP  INITIALS__  f^  C 


HLMEDBY:    RESEARCH  PUBLICATIONS.  INC  WOODBRIDGE.  CT 


1 

r 

Association  for  information  and  Image  Management 

1100  Wayne  Avenue,  Suite  1100 
Silver  Spring,  Maryland  20910 

301/587-8202 


Centimeter 

12        3        4         5        6         7 

llllllllllllllllMlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ 


8 


11 


^ 


iiiiiii 


10       11       12       13       14       15   mm 

iiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiii 


nmrj 


Inches 


1 


TTTT7 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


T 


TTT 


iir-^ 

2.8 

2.5 

1^ 

m   1 

3.2 

2.2 

1^ 

3.6 

^     Hi 

1^    III 

4.0 

2.0 

IS. 

ti     u 

lUhSiU 

1.8 

1.4 

1.6 

MflNUFflCTURED   TO   fillM   STfiNDRRDS 
BY   nPPLIED   IMRGEp     INC. 


\ 


'■"t'i 

■'-,t'; 


3    J 


Columbia  ®[nibrrsitp 

in  tfte  Citp  of  ^eto  gorfe 


LIBRARY 


( 


^ 


(»r 


ENGLISH   TOWNS   IN   THE  WARS 

OF  THE   ROSES 


BY 


JAMES  E.  WINSTON 


\  I 


w 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


ENGLISH  TOWNS   IN   THE  WARS 

OF   THE   ROSES 


BY 


JAMES    E.    WINSTON 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


I 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
PRINCETON 

LONDON:  HUMPHREY  MILFORD 
OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

192 1 


;i 


I 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
Princeton  University  Press 

Published,  1921 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


I 


i 


< 


t)  4-1.  04-4- 


'■An  s  3 


1 


I 


PREFACE 

The  present  study  in  English  municipal  history  was  under- 
taken at  the  suggestion  of  the  late  Professor  Charles  Gross 
of  Harvard  University,  and  completed  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Edward  P.  Cheyney,  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.    Association  with  the  former  remains  a  source  of  in- 
spiration to  every  student  fortunate  enough  to  have  come  in 
contact  with  one  whose  scholarly  attainments  never  obscured 
the  sympathetic  friend,  the  courteous  gentleman;  to  the  lat- 
ter the  writer  is  happy  to  be  able  to  make  his  sincere  acknowl- 
edgment  for  helpful  counsel  and  suggestion  placed   so  un- 
reservedly at  his  disposal.     Long  ago  honest  Madox  wrote 
that  **Whoso  desireth  to  discourse  in  a  proper  manner  con- 
cerning corporate  towns  and  communities  must  take  in  a  great 
variety  of  matter,  and  should  be  allowed  a  great  deal  of  time 
and  preparation."     The  results  attained  in  this  investigation 
are  disappointingly  meagre  compared  with  the  amount  of  labor 
involved.    So  far  as  the  number  of  town  and  county  histories 
is  concerned,  their  name  is  legion;  from  a  slender  portion 
only  however  of  the  many  volumes  consulted  has  it  been  pos- 
sible to  obtain  any  precise  information  touching  the  political 
history  of  the  boroughs   in   the   period  under  consideration. 
Happily  the  old-fashioned  method  of  treating  local  history  is 
being  superseded  more  and  more  by  the  printing  of  town  rec- 
ords, and  a  number  of  excellent  studies  of  this  character  have 
been  made  available;  the  more  important  of  these  have  been 
noted  in   the   bibliography.     It   goes   without   saying   that   a 
thorough-going  study  of  the  subject  under  consideration  would 
necessitate  an  examination  of  the  archives  of  the  various  towns 
whose  history  has  been  dealt  with;  since  this  has  not  been 

••• 
m 


I 


possible,  the  writer  has  been  compelled  to  rely  for  the  most 
part  upon  printed  sources  and  upon  those  town  histories  whose 
authors  have  had  access  to  manuscript  sources.  If  only  the 
writer  shall  have  succeeded  in  suggesting  a  field  of  inquiry 
in  which  future  investigators  may  achieve  more  marked  results, 
his  task  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 

James  E.  Winston. 

The  H.  Sophie  Xewcomb  Memorial  College 
of  Tulane  University, 
New  Orleans,  La. 


^. 


Chapter  I. 

Chapter  II. 

Chapter  III. 

Chapter  IV. 

Chapter  V. 

Chapter  VI. 

Chapter  VII. 

Chapter  VIII. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Introduction. 

London. 

York,  Bristol,  Coventry,  Norwich. 

Lincoln,  Colchester,  Southampton,  Newcastle. 

Hull,  Gloucester,  Exeter. 

The  Cinque  Ports. 

Northampton,  Beverley,  Ludlow. 

Conclusion. 


i 


IV 


CHAPTER  I 


Introduction 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  examine  the  attitude  of 
some  of  the  more  important  Enghsh  boroughs  in  the  civil 
wars  of  the  fifteenth  century.    Historians  generally  have  failed 
to  reach  any  agreement  about  the  part  played  by  the  towns 
in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  in  addition  have  unduly  mini- 
mized it  as  a  whole.^     In  general  it  may  be  said  that  three 
opinions  have  been  expressed  by  writers  dealing  with  this  sub- 
ject.    By  some  historians  we  are  assured  that  the  great  mer- 
chant towns,  including  London,  were  steady  for  the  house  of 
York.2     On    the    other    hand   able    writers    have    questioned 
whether  the  towns  can  be  said  to  have  exhibited  any  prefer- 
ence for  one  side  of  the  other.^    Thirdly,  we  are  told  that  the 
towns  were  actuated  solely  by  motives  of  self-interest;  that 
they  played  fast  and  loose  with  the  dominant  powers  in  the 
state;  that  they  manifested  no  constant  devotion  to  the  Red  or 
the  White  Rose.*     Says  one  writer:    "The  towns  reluctamly 
sent  their  soldiers  when  they  were  ordered  out  to  the  aid  of 
the  reigning  king,  and  whatever  might  be  the  side  on  which 
they  fought,  as  soon  as  victory  was  declared,  hurried  off  their 
messengers  with  gifts  and  protestations  to  the  conqueror."=^ 
The  last  alleged  attitude  has  been  made  the  basis  of  a  severe 
indictment  of  the  towns:     ''If  not  actively  mischievous,  they 
were  solidly  inert.     They  refused  to  entangle  themselves  in 

iCf.    Stubbs,   Constitutional  History   of  England,   III,   ^^^'/^^^f"; 
Tozvn  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  I,   164;  Vickers,  England  in  the 

"^T^r'iif^si^^^^^^^^^  People,  II,  551;  Blomefield,  History 

of  Norfolk    11^1^7.     Cf.  Green,  II.  561.     Lucas.  Illustrations  of  the 
History  of  Bristol  and  its  Neighbourhood,  p.  209. 

'4nt't '  H:"tf  l/^^/&^^  Co»sH,utio..  pp.  438-439 ;  Rogers 
Historv  of  Agriclliure  and  Prices,  IV,  9    10,  says  that  "not  one  of 
them  suffered  loss  from  fidelity  to  »ny  ^.de,  -a  statement  which  can 
easUv  be  shown  to  be  wide  of  the  truth.  Cf.  also  Alice  E.  Radice.    Eng- 
lish  Society   during  the  Wars  of   the   Roses,"  ,n   the  AnUqu<'ry   for 

August,  1904-        ,.,     ,, 
6  Green,  Tott-n  Life,  II,  33i. 


politics  at  all.  They  submitted  impassively  to  each  ruler  m 
turn,  when  they  had  ascertained  that  their  own  persons  and 
property  were  not  endangered  by  so  doing.  A  town,  it  has 
been  remarked,  seldom  or  never  stood  a  siege  during  the  Wars 
of  the  Roses,  for  no  town  ever  refused  to  open  its  gates  to 
any  commander  with  an  adequate  force  who  asked  for  en- 
trance. .  .  .  Loyalty  seems  to  have  been  as  wanting  among 
the  citizens  as  among  the  barons  of  England.  If  they  gener- 
ally showed  some  slight  preference  for  York  rather  than  for 
Lancaster,  it  was  not  on  any  moral  or  sentimental  ground, 
but  because  the  house  of  Lancaster  was  known  by  experience 
to  be  weak  in  enforcing  'good  governance,'  and  the  house  of 
York  was  pledged  to  restore  the  strength  of  the  Crown  and 
to  secure  better  times  for  trade  than  its  rival."® 

An  attempt  will  be  made  to  show  that  the  attitude  of  the 
boroughs  was  not  so  selfish  as  it  has  been  depicted.  At  the 
outset,  however,  it  is  admitted  that  a  certain  degree  of  cautious 
regard  for  their  interests  was  imposed  upon  the  townsmen  by 
circumstances  over  which  they  had  no  control.  The  war,  which 
began  as  a  struggle  to  vindicate  constitutional  liberties,  de- 
generated after  1460  into  a  mere  blood  feud  between  two 
reckless  factions  which  were  indifferent  to  the  needs  and  well- 
being  of  the  townsmen.  If  the  towns  were  courted  by  one 
side  or  the  other,  it  was  largely  from  selfish  motives.  When 
we  find  the  barons,  who  should  have  been  their  natural  leaders, 
swayed  by  no  principles  save  those  of  self-interest,  it  is  hardly 
a  matter  of  surprise  to  find  the  burghers  actuated  by  similar 
motives.  In  material  wealth  and  prosperity  the  towns  had 
taken  enormous  strides  since  the  days  when  John  or  Simon  de 
Montfort  had  bid  for  their  support.  To  have  actively  espoused 
one  side  or  the  other  in  the  struggle  between  Lancaster  and 
York  was  merely  courting  disaster  to  their  trade  and  industry ; 
and,  above  all,  active  partisanship  on  the  part  of  the  city  gov- 
ernments meant  ruin  for  those  highly  prized  Hberties  and 
privileges  of  trade  and  of  self-government  which  represented 
the  slow  and  oftentimes  painful  efforts  of  centuries.  In  these 
uncertain  times  when  "men  wot  not  what  wyll  fall  ther  off, 
nor  ther  affter,"^  it  can  hardly  be  a  reproach  to  the  townsmen 
that  they  oftentimes  exercised  their  wits  not  unsuccessfully  in 

6  Oman,  Waritnck,  p.  11. 

T  Paston  Letters  (ed.  Gairdner),  II,  394. 


refusing  to  become  embroiled  in  the  factional  fights  of  the 
times,  but  held  themselves  aloof  as  far  as  possible,  the  greater 
part  of  the  citizens  pursuing  their  daily  tasks  until  the  tide  of 
war  approached  their  gates. 

While,  therefore,  a  prudent  self-interest  led  many  of  the 
towns  to  pursue  a  temporizing  policy  during  the  dynastic 
struggles  of  the  fifteenth  century,  such  a  policy  would  seem 
not  entirely  without  justification.  In  the  absence  of  any  col- 
lective organization  on  the  part  of  the  boroughs,  every  town 
was  forced  to  adopt  whatever  makeshifts  the  exigencies  of 
the  moment  might  demand.  It  was  well  for  the  future  of  trade 
and  of  industry  that  the  towns  as  a  rule  were  governed  by 
motives  of  self-interest.  It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  a 
borough  should  have  maintained  a  struggle  single-handed  when 
a  change  of  fortune  had  brought  about  the  momentar>'  down- 
fall or  lasting  ruin  of  the  cause  it  had  espoused.  Rather  they 
bowed  their  heads  to  the  storm  and  accepted  a  condition  of 
affairs  they  were  powerless  to  avert. 

But  the  records  show  that  the  towns  were  far  less  generally 
actuated  by  purely  local  and  selfish  motives,  that  some  of  the 
burghers  w^ere  far  more  consistently  loyal  to  Lancaster  or  York, 
and  that  the  losses  incurred  by  them  on  account  of  this  loyalty 
were  far  greater  than  has  been  assumed  by  modem  writers. 
The  fact  that  in  a  number  of  places  there  were  throughout 
the  struggle  rival  Lancastrian  and  Yorkist  factions  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  their  course  of  action  was  not  dictated  solely  by 
policy.  But  aside  from  this,  evidence,  scanty  though  it  be, 
is  not  lacking  to  show  that  many  of  the  towns,  including  some 
of  the  most  important  ones  in  the  realm,  were  keenly  interested 
in  the  outcome  of  the  struggle,  while  not  a  few  examples  can 
be  cited  of  unswerving  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  party  of 
their  choice.  In  fact  indications  are  not  lacking  to  show  that 
as  the  struggle  progressed,  the  commonalty  were  drawn  more 
and  more  into  the  contest,  being  every  day  made  more  and 
more  parties  in  the  cause.  The  very  fact  that  a  chronicler 
would  make  the  grossly  exaggerated  statement  that  30,000  of 
the  commons  were  slain  at  Towton  besides  men  of  name  lends 
colour  to  the  belief  that  the  number  of  commoners  who  fell  on 
that  field  must  have  been  unduly  large.  That  a  number  of 
towns  sent  contingents  to  the  field  of  Towton  has  been  recorded 


in  a  well-known  contemporar>^  song.®  In  this  same  connec- 
tion another  exaggerated  statement  of  the  chroniclers  may  be 
noted.  When  Edward  IV  was  hurrying  north  in  1462,  after 
the  capture  of  Bamborough  and  Alnwick  by  Margaret,  we  are 
told  by  an  ardent  Yorkist  that  he  was  joined  by  troops  from 
every  town,^  a  statement  in  which  we  see  reflected  the  belief 
on  the  part  of  the  wTiter  that  a  number  of  towns  were  send- 
ing, partly  from  compulsion,  partly  also  of  their  own  free 
will,  troops  to  the  support  of  the  Yorkist  cause. 

Whatever  mav  have  been  the  attitude  of  the  boroughs  to- 
wards  the  conflict  waged  by  the  heads  of  the  great  families 
and  their  retainers  in  the  fifteenth  century,  there  is  no  mis- 
taking the  attitude  of  those  rival  factions  towards  the  towms, 
for  the  contending  parties  were  quick  to  recognize  the  help 
that  could  be  gained  from  the  support  of  the  burghers,  who 
were  either  to  be  respected  as  a  powerful  neutral  body,  or  to 
be  won  over  as  auxiliaries.     ''Their  aid  was  courted  by  the 
two  contending  parties  in  the  state."^^     As  early  as  1450  we 
find  one  of  the  rival  parties  endeavoring  to  enlist  the  goodwill 
and  support  of  the  towns.    In  this  year  the  civil  authorities  of 
Canterbury,  Colchester,  Oxford,  Sandwich,  and  a  number  of 
other  cities  and  boroughs  received  letters  from  the  Duke  of 
York  or  from  his  adherents  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening 
his  cause  and  furthering  his  interests.     The  purport  of  these 
letters  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  explanation  which 
accompanied  the  letter  sent  to  the  king:     "He,  (the  Duke  of 
York)    continuing  in  his  malicious  entent,   by   subtle   means 
thought  to  achieve  his  purpose  by  might,  wrote  letters  to  the 
many  cities,  boroughs  and  towns  of  this  your  noble  realm, 
coloured  under  a  pretence  of  a  will  to  have  made  a  common 
insurrection  against  you,  to  have  destroyed  your  most  noble 
person.""    In  February,  1452,  we  find  the  Duke  of  York  wTit- 
ing  to  the  burgesses  of   Shrew^sbury  praying  and  exhorting 
them  ''to  fortify,  enforce,  and  assist  me,  and  to  come  to  me 
with  all  diligence,  wheresoever  I  shall  be,  or  draw,  with  as 
many  goodly  and  likely  men  as  ye  may,  to  execute  the  intent 
above  said."^-    The  large  number  of  charters  granted  by  Ed- 

^  Archaeologia,  XXIX,  343. 

» William  of   Worcester,  p.   780. 

10  Cf.  Thompson,  History  of  Leicester,  pp.  181,  186. 

^1  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  Privy  Council,  VI,  91 ;  Rot.  Pari.,  V,  346. 

^-Historical  Letters  (ed.  Ellis),' I,  il. 


« 


P 


ward  IV  to  boroughs  record,  in  many  instances,  that  the 
privileges  granted  are  in  return  for  the  services  rendered  him 
in  subduing  his  enemies  and  in  gaining  the  crown.  In  fact 
we  are  distinctly  told  that  Edward  ratified  all  the  franchises 
given  to  cities  and  towns,  and  granted  to  many  cities  and  towns 
new  franchises  to  a  greater  extent  than  had  ever  been  done 
before.  "For  so  moche  as  he  fande  in  tyme  of  nede  grete 
comforth  in  his  comyners,  he  ratyfied  and  confermyd  all  the 
ffraunsches  yeve  to  citeis  and  townes,  and  graunted  to  many 
cyteis  and  townes  new  fraunschesses  more  than  was  graunted 
before,  ryghte  largly,  and  made  chartours  thereof,  to  the  extent 
to  have  the  more  good  wille  and  love  in  his  londe.''^^  The 
progresses  made  in  the  summer  after  his  coronation  through 
Canterbury,  Winchester,  Bristol,  and  other  places  by  Edward 
wxre  largely  undertaken  no  doubt  for  the  purpose  of  winning 
the  good-will  of  the  townsmen  for  the  new  monarchy.  In 
this  respect  Edward  showed  himself  wiser  on  the  whole  than 
his  Lancastrian  rival,  cultivating  more  successfully  than  Henry 
friendly  relations  with  the  body  of  the  townsmen. 

That  there  existed  an  important  relation  between  the  rising 
of  Cade  and  the  supporters  of  York  admits  of  no  question." 
On  the  other  hand,  though  the  Lancastrian  parliament  at 
Coventry  at  its  meeting  on  November  20,  1459,  recited  the 
Duke's  connection  with  Cade's  rebellion,^^  there  seems  no  real 
ground  for  supposing  any  connection  between  Cade's  rebels 
and  the  Duke.  The  insurrection  of  Cade  found  many  sym- 
pathizers in  London  and  was  strongly  supported  by  the  cor- 
porate towns,  the  most  disaflfected  centers  being  traced  by  those 
places  to  which  quarters  of  the  rebels  were  sent  by  the  govern- 
ment after  the  collapse  of  the  movement. ^^    ''Given  to  a  man 

13  Warkworth,  Chronicle,  p.  2.  For  some  of  these  charters  see  below, 
pp.  29,  31,  41,  54,  61,  63. 

i*The  volume  of  the  Patent  Rolls  for  the  years  1446-1452  contains  a 
mass  of  evidence  showing  the  regions  affected  by  the  insurrection  and 
the  character  of  Cade's  supporters.  See  pp.  338,  et  seq.,  461,  503.  Cf. 
Kriehn,  The  English  Rising  of  1430,  pp.  120-124;  Paston  Letters  (ed. 
Gairdner),  Introd.,  p.  Ixxix,  et  seq.,  p.  xci ;  Cade's  proclamation  is 
printed  in  Three  Fifteenth  Century  Chronicles  (Stowe's  Hist.  Mem.), 
pp.  94-95.  Cf.  also  Bale's  Chronicle  (Flenley,  ^'I'.r  Toum  Chronicles  of 
England). 

^^Rot.  Pari.  V,  346. 

"^^  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  Privy  Council,  VI,  107-108;  Davies's 
English  Chronicle  (Camden  Society),  p.  67;  Paston  Letters,  Introd., 
p.   Ixxxvii.     Cf.   Flenley,   Six   Town   Chronicles  of  England,  Introd.. 

p.  73. 


4i 


% 


carrying  a  quarter  of  a  man,  to  supersede  the  said  quarter 
3S  4d"— "Paid  i8d  for  a  pair  of  boots,  as  a  reward  promised 
to  him."  The  men  of  New  Romney  bribed  a  man  to  deposit 
his  quarter  of  one  of  the  rebels  elsewhere.^^  It  has  been  ob- 
served that  the  counties  from  which  Cade  drew  the  bulk  of 
his  followers, — those,  namely,  in  the  south-eastern  parts  of 
the  realm,  were  warm  supporters  of  the  Duke  of  York. 

^"^  Hist.  MSS.  Comm.,  V,  Pt.  I.  543-  For  interest  of  Cinque  Ports  in 
Cade's  cause  see  Ibid.,  X,  520.  522,  543. 


J 


CHAPTER  II 


London 


As  may  be  imagined,  the  most  active  and  conspicuous  part 
assumed  by  any  town  during  the  struggle  between  Lancaster 
and  York  was  taken  by  London,  "the  chiefe  key  and  common 
spectacle  to  the  whole  realme."  The  history  of  London  during 
these  eventful  years  has  been  recorded  with  comiparative 
fulness  by  contemporary  chroniclers,  and  in  spite  of  the  some- 
what contradictory  accounts  as  to  the  part  taken  by  the  citizens 
of  the  capital  in  the  struggle  for  the  Crown,  it  is  possible  to  set 
forth  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  certainty  just  to  what  extent 
the  metropolis  was  involved  in  the  politics  of  the  time.  The 
attitude  of  London  had  been  decisive  in  the  conflict  between 
Stephen  and  Matilda;  in  the  struggle  between  John  and  his 
barons,  the  citizens  utterly  forsook  their  king;  in  the  quarrel 
between  Henry  III  and  Simon  de  Montfort,  the  populace  of 
the  city  was  devoted  to  the  great  Earl.  It  was  London  that 
had  invited  Bolingbroke  to  assume  the  crown,  his  troops  being 
pensioned  and  subsidized  by  the  citizens.^  The  house  of  Lan- 
caster may  be  said  to  have  been  secure  so  long  as  it  retained 
the  affections  of  London.  On  the  whole  it  may  be  fairly  said 
that  the  adhesion  of  the  Londoners,  whose  support  could 
generally  be  counted  upon  at  critical  moments,  turned  the 
scale  in  favour  of  the  Yorkist  claimant  to  the  throne,  though 
the  mass  of  the  citizens  were  by  no  means  at  all  times  zealous 
for  the  cause  of  Edward,  and  there  could  always  be  found 
supporters  of  the  Red  Rose  faction  in  the  city.  In  1454  for 
instance  the  London  authorities  deemed  it  best  to  assume  a  non- 
committal attitude  towards  the  two  rival  factions.  It  is  plainly 
evident  there  were  "diverse  opinions"  amongst  the  citizens 
touching  the  merits  of  the  claims  of  Henry  VI  and  of  his  rival. 
So  far  as  the  civic  authorities  were  concerned,  at  heart  they 
may  have  been  loyal  to  Henry,  but  they  determined  to  support 
Edward  who,  with  all  his  faults,  seemed  capable  of  enforcing 

^An  English  Chronicle  from  1S77  ^0  1461,  p.  15. 


1 


a  strong  rule.  On  several  conspicuous  occasions  the  citizens 
of  London  rendered  the  cause  of  Edward  effective  support. 
Only  July  2,  1460,  the  Yorkists  were  admitted  into  the  city; 
here  they  were  aided  in  an  attack  made  upon  the  Tower  held  by 
the  Lancastrians;  a  few  days  later  a  loan  of  £1000  was  voted 
the  Yorkist  Earls  by  the  city.^  When  a  prompt  advance  upon 
London  after  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans  might  have  rein- 
stated the  King  and  Queen,  the  lower  orders  showed  a  spirit 
of  determined  hostility.^  "And  all  this  season  was  greate 
wacche  made  in  the  citie  of  London,  ffor  it  Was  Reported 
that  the  Queene  wt  the  Northern  men  wold  come  downe  to 
the  Citie  and  Robbe  and  dispoile  the  Citie,  and  distroy  it  ut- 
terly, and  all  the  Sowth  Countre."*  According  to  some  ac- 
counts the  Lord  Mayor  was  almost  the  only  one  in  London  at 
this  time  who  was  faithful  to  the  Red  Rose;  according  to 
others,  the  mayor  and  chief  commoners  held  to  the  Queen's 
party,  and  the  commonalty  was  with  York  and  his  affinity. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  "the  comones,  for  the  sauacione  of  the  cyte, 
toke  the  keys  of  the  yates  were  they  shulde  have  entred,  and 
manly  kept  and  defended  hit  fro  theyre  enemyes,  unto  the 
commyng  of  Edwarde  the  noble  erle  of  Marche."'  The  news 
of  the  depredations  committed  by  the  Queen's  army  had  shaken 
the  allegiance  of  many  of  her  partisans ;  the  presence  in  their 
midst  of  the  Yorkist  claimant  to  the  throne  no  doubt  resulted 
in  others  who  were  wavering  being  seduced  from  their  faith- 
fulness to  the  Lancastrian  cause. 

Edward  upon  his  entry  into  the  city  is  represented  as  being 
received  with  joy  by  lords,  citizens,  and  merchants.®  This  was 
in  the  last  week  of  February,  1461.^  A  few  days  later  the 
young  Duke  was  accepted  as  King  by  the  commonalty  of  the 
city.®  Among  *'the  people  of  the  erles  part"  were  "a  great 
number  of  the  substanciall  citezens  there  assembled  to  behold 
their  order."     After  Edward  had  been  enthroned  at  West- 

2  Sharpe,  London  and  the  Kingdom,  I,  301. 

3  Stevenson,  Wars  of  the  English  in  France,  Pt.  II,  776;  Hall,  Chron- 
icle, p.  253. 

*Kingsford,  Chronicles  of  London,  p.  172. 

'  An  English  Chronicle  from  /j//  to  1461,  p.  109. 

«  Whethamstede,  I,  404;  JVaurin,  V,  330-331. 

^  Either  February  27  or  28. 

8  Hall,  Chronicle,  p.  253 ;  To  the  usual  authorities  for  Edward's 
accession  may  be  added  Gough's  account  in  Six  Town  Chronicles  of 
England  (Flenley).  Contradictory  dates  are  given  by  writers  for  the 
coronation  of  Edward  which  occurred  June  28. 

8 


^ 


I' 


minster  Hall  "it  was  agayne  demaunded  of  the  commens,  if 
they  would  admitte  and  take  the  sayd  erle  as  their  prince  and 
souereigne  lord,  which  al  with  one  voice  cried  'y^^*  y^^'  " 
The  Duke  remained  with  Warwick  a  week  in  the  city  for  the 
purpose  of  mustering  troops.  Thus  his  cause  was  linked  with 
that  of  the  burgesses,  and  the  fortunes  of  both  would  stand 
or  fall  together.  Edward  knew  the  effect  of  this  act  would 
be  wide  and  far-reaching.  The  significance  of  the  event  is 
realized  when  it  is  recalled  with  what  eagerness  the  last  of  the 
Plantagenets  sought  to  have  his  title  ratified  by  the  citizens  of 
London.  The  news  of  Edward's  victory  at  Towton  was  joy- 
fully received  in  the  capital.  Had  Somerset  and  the  Arch- 
bishop held  out  a  few  days  longer  in  1471,  it  seems  that  noth- 
ing could  have  saved  Edward's  cause,  for  Warwick  would 
then  have  been  enabled  to  cut  off  his  retreat;  as  it  was,  the 
lack  of  enthusiasm  for  Henry  enabled  Edward  easily  to  effect 
an  entrance  and  take  possession  of  his  capital.®  The  pos- 
session of  London  by  Edward  forced  Warwick  to  give  battle 
before  he  was  ready. 

Not  only  did  the  citizens  of  the  metropolis  render  Edward 
effective  moral  support ;  upon  more  than  one  battle-field  they 
proved  their  loyalty  to  his  cause.  A  large  body  of  trained 
bands  of  London  citizens  are  said  to  have  demonstrated  their 
superiority  in  archery  at  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans.  They 
assisted  Edward  in  recapturing  from  Margaret  the  castles  of 
Bamborough  and  Alnwick  in  1463.  The  victories  of  Barnet 
and  Tewkesbury  were  won  with  the  help  of  the  Londoners.^^ 
The  attack  of  the  'bastard'  Falconbridge  upon  the  city  in  1471 
was  repulsed  by  the  citizens  with  no  extraneous  aid."  "But 
for  all  his  sondes  and  letters  made  to  the  comons  of  the 
cite  he  cowde  have  no  license."  Edward  rewarded  the  fidelity 
of  the  city  by  granting  it  two  charters,  one  in  1461,  and  the 
other,  conferring  many  privileges  upon  the  city,  in  1462 ;  he 
moreover  confirmed  in  the  latter  year  the  charter  granted  the 

9  See  Arrivall  of  King  Edward  IV,  pp.  15,  16;  Warkworth,  Chronicle, 
p.  15;  Kingsford,  Chronicles  of  London,  pp.  179,  318. 

^^  Arrivall  of  King  Edward  IV,  p.  18;  Polydore  Vergil,  Historia  An- 
glicana  (C.S.),  pp.  I44,  150.    William  of  Worcester,  p.  775. 

"Kingsford,  Chronicles  of  London,  p.  185.  Warkworth's  statement 
(Chronicle),  p.  19,  that  but  for  the  burning  of  Aldgate  and  London 
Bridge  the  commons  of  the  city  would  have  admitted  Falconbridge 
does  not  appear  to  be  borne  out  by  the  facts. 


city  by  Henry  IV."     It  is  thus  seen  how  important  for  the 
success  of  Edward  was  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  Lon- 
doners.   So  far  as  London  is  concerned,— and  the  same  remark 
would  perhaps,  with  certain  important  exceptions,  apply  to  the 
towns  as  a  whole— the  cause  of  Edward  may  be  termed  the 
popular  one.'»  At  any  rate,  the  cause  of  the  Yorkists  was  more 
popular  in  London,  Bristol  and  Coventry  after  1461  than  was 
that  of  Margaret.     The  motives  which  led  the  townsmen  to 
favour  the  cause  of  Edward  and  to  discard  the  Lancastrian 
monarchy  may  be  conveniently   considered   in  another  con- 
nection. 

In  size,  wealth,  and  importance,  London  stood  in  a  class  by 
Itself  throughout  the  entire  medieval  period.     And  yet  even 
London  was  in  point  of  numbers  what  would  be  today  con- 
sidered as  a  small  place ;  for  the  population  of  the  city  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  certainly  did  not  exceed  50,000. 
—in  fact  was  probably  several  thousand  less.    York  and  Bristol 
were  the  towns  which  ranked  next  in  size  to  London,  each 
with  a  population  only  about  one- fourth  or  one-fifth  as  large  • 
Norwich   and   Coventry   stood   next;   the    former   contained 
perhaps     some     10,000     inhabitants;     the     latter     probably 
a   few  thousand   less."     Any   estimates  of   the   populations 
Of    the    fifteenth    century    municipalities    can     hardly    be 
much  more  than  rough  guesses,  since  no  satisfactory  data 
exist  upon  which  to  base  any  accurate  conclusions  as  to  num- 
bers.   But  these  rough  estimates,  although  they  do  not  tell  us 
the  exact  size  of  any  of  these  five  towns,  show  us  accurately 
enough  their  relative  size  and  also  the  importance  of  their 
alliance  as  compared  with  that  of  the  majority  of  English 
boroughs,  which  reckoned  their  burgesses  only  by  hundreds. 
Bearing  these  facts  in  mind  we  may  next  consider  the  part 
taken  in  the  conflict  by  the  towns  just  mentioned. 

"Sharpe,  London  and  the  Kingdom   I    107   mR.  tit    4„„    a 

of    lfe°&n?rs^''  ^^^'f  ^'n'  T  ^  ''"4   '  ■"-"  d«'-» 

»Cf.  Gross,  Gtld  Merchant,  I,  73;  Ashley  EcoHnmir'H;.L  ^\j 
Cunmngham,  Grouih  of  English  Indus  ryllJ'SoZr^eT^,^^^^^ 
conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  the  levy  of  Archm  te  ii,  of*    .T' 
size  of  certain  towns.  Rot  Pari    V  277     l^  ,n  „    u  i.?-  ^^3  as  to  the 
given  for  Norwich  a^d  Co;ent7y  are'foo  Lg" ''°'''''''^^ 


A» 


10 


'\ 


{ 

4*  fi^ 


i        •% 


f  '? 


>       ^M 


i 
I 


1  ' 


CHAPTER  III 

York,  Bristol,  Coventry,  Norwich 
York's  share  in  the  dynastic  struggle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
is  both  interesting  and  curious.     Few  EngHsh  cities  are  said 
to  have  passed  through  more  numerous  and  violent  changes  of 
fortune  during  the  wars  of  York  and  Lancaster   than  the 
ancient  city  of  York.     From  the   fact  that  York   was  the 
capital  of  the  north  country,  which  portion  of  the  realm,  it  is 
generally  agreed,  was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  Margaret's 
power,  it  might  be  inferred  that  the  town  was  Lancastrian  in 
its  sympathies.    In  I454  we  find  Henry  writing  to  the  citizens 
of  York  and  commending  them  for  their  laudable  behaviour 
and  desiring  them  to  continue  at  all  times  their  good  will 
and  faith  towards  him.    This  inference  would  be  strengthened 
by  the  fact  that  Edward  found  it  necessary  to  discipline  those 
of  the  citizens  who  resisted  him.^     On  the  other  hand,  the 
city  rendered  important  services  to  the  Yorkist  King,  and  was 
rewarded  by  him  in  a  substantial  manner  for  its  faithfulness. 
By  some  writers  this  extraordinary  grant,  which  is  dated  at 
York,  June  lO,  1464,  is  considered  conclusive  proof  of  the 
city's' devotion  to  Edward.^    In  this  patent  the  King  expresses 
his  great  concern  for  the  hardships  and  sufferings  the  city 
had  undergone  during  these  wars,  insomuch  as  to  be  almost 
reduced  to  the  lowest  degree  of  poverty  by  them.    In  consider- 
ation of  which  he  now  relinquishes  the  usual  farm  of  the  city, 
and  assigns  them  an  annual  rent  of  40  pounds  to  be  paid  out 
of  his  customs  in  the  port  of  Hull,  for  twelve  years  to  come.* 
Other    writers    mistakenly    suppose    that    the    citizens    first 
espoused  the  cause  of  Edward  at  this  time,  or  look  upon  his 
grant  as  an  endeavour  upon  his  part  to  gain  their  favour.     But 
as  early  as  March,  1462,  when  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  to  whom 

iSee  Whethamstede,  I,  411- 

2Drake,  £6orarww,  p.  112.  a     -     .  /--.       /  v     1. 

3  Hargrove,  History  and  Description  of  the  Ancient  City  of  York, 
I,  114.  An  account  of  the  grant  is  given  in  a  number  of  secondary 
authorities. 

II 


the  people  of  Yorkshire  are  said  to  have  been  devoted  and  who 
possessed  extensive  lands  in  Yorkshire,*  arrived  at  York,  the 
council  was  induced  to  raise  a  troop  of  men-at-arms  to  join 
the  royal  forces  under  the  command  of  the  Earl.  Two  months 
later  the  York  soldiers,  equipped  and  with  their  captain,  Chris- 
topher Berwyk,  joined  the  Earl  of  Warwick  at  Carlisle  which, 
in  the  preceding  year  had  been  besieged  by  the  Scots  at  the 
instance  of  the  Lancastrians.  A  number  of  entries  in  the  York 
Records  have  to  do  with  the  manufacture  of  a  standard  for 
the  troops.  "And  in  two  ells  of  buckram,  i6d. ;  bought  for 
the  standard  of  the  Arms  of  the  City,  on  that  occasion  made 
and  carried  to  Carlisle  by  Christopher  Berwyk,  Captain,  2s. 
8d."^  Warwick  dispatched  a  messenger  to  York  with  good 
news  of  his  proceedings  in  the  north.  Warwick's  influence  at 
this  time  with  the  authorities  of  York  was  thus  used  to  further 
the  cause  of  Edward.  Communications  continued  to  pass 
between  the  council  of  York  and  the  Earl.  On  one  occasion 
the  sum  of  8d  was  paid  by  the  town  on  account  of  the  ex- 
penses of  a  messenger  riding  from  York  to  Middleham  to 
certify  to  Lord  Warwick  the  taking  of  a  person  coming  from 
'the  northern  parts'  with  certain  letters  upon  him.^  In  No- 
vember, 1462,  Edward  visited  York.  On  the  day  following 
the  bloody  battle  of  Towton  he  had  been  received  in  the  city 
"with  great  solempnyte,  and  processyons,"  though  of  course 
this  proves  nothing  as  to  the  predilections  of  the  citizens.  He 
had  moreover  sojourned  in  their  midst  several  weeks  after  the 
battle.^  Now  he  came  in  quest  of  assistance  against  Margaret 
who  had  landed  in  the  north.  At  Pontefract  he  was  greeted  by 
two  of  the  aldermen,  one  of  whom  was  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  the  city.®  Edward  doubtless  had  little  difficulty  in 
inducing  the  civic  authorities  to  equip  again  a  body  of  men-at- 
arms  for  the  royal  service.  The  very  next  month  we  find  the 
city  spending  money  for  cloth  out  of  which  to  make  scarves 
for  York  soldiers  riding  with  the  King  to  the  siege  of  the 
castles  of  Bamborough,  Alnwick,  and  Dunstanborough.®     That 

♦  Davies,  Extracts  from  the  Municipal  Records  of  the  City  of  York, 
pp.  29,  47.    Hereafter  this  book  will  be  quoted  as  York  Records. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  19-20,  2S. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  21. 

''Edward  remained  at  York  till  April  16;  he  was  at  the  northern 
capital  again  from  the  loth  to  the  14th  of  May. 

^  Ibid.y  p.  19. 

» Ibid.,  pp.  23,  30. 

12 


/ 


^ 


Edward  and  the  citizens  of  York  were  upon  good  terms  at 
this  time  is  furthermore  shown  by  the  fact  that,  while  in  the 
north,  the  King  twice  despatched  messengers  to  the  city  with 
the  news  of  his  successes  in  Northumberland.    It  is  also  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  city  council  deputed  officers  to  ride  to 
Durham  and  to  Newcastle  to  learn  the  King's  pleasure  con- 
cerning the  government  of  the  city  in  his  absence.^^    ''And  in 
the  expenses  of  William  Stokton  and  Thomas  Scansteby,  Al- 
derman, riding  from  York  to  Pontefract,  to  confer  with  our 
Lord,  King  Edward,  in  the  month  of  November,  13s.  4d."    In 
1464  he  occupied  the  palace  in  the  city  for  some  time,  prescrib- 
ing to  the  citizens  the  manner  in  which  they  should  elect  their 
mayor.^^     It  seems  clear,  therefore,  that  the  citizens  of  York 
were  favourably  disposed  to  the  cause  of  Edward  prior  to 
1464,  when  he  requited  their  services  with  the  grant  mentioned 
above.    Of  course  it  may  be  suggested  that  these  evidences  of 
friendship  on  the  part  of  the  townsmen  were  inspired  by  fear 
rather  than  by  love,  because  the  citizens  had  no  alternative  but 
to  support  the  cause  of  Edward.    On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  there  were  those  in  the  city  who 
regarded  the  house  of  York  with  affection.    Edward  was  by 
no  means  a  stranger  to  the  art  of  ingratiating  himself  with 
the  burgher  class.    On  a  later  notable  occasion  the  very  sight 
of  his  person,  according  to  one  of  the  chroniclers,  was  suf- 
ficient to  quench  the  malice  of  his  enemies  and  to  turn  a  cold 
and  perhaps  hostile  group  of  citizens  into  a  crowd  of  enthu- 
siastic supporters.    Sandal  Castle  was  a  favourite  residence  of 
Richard.  Duke  of  York.^^     xhe  Duke  of  Gloucester,  whose 
connection  with  city  and  county  began  at  an  early  period,  was 
said  to  be  very  popular  in  York.^^    From  the  town  records  it  is 
evident  that  ''Richard  had  constant  intercourse  with  the  cit- 
izens of  York,  and  was  regarded  by  them  with  much  personal 
esteem  and  attachment."    While  most  of  Yorkshire  may  have 
been  under  the  influence  of  the  great  Lancastrian  families,  yet 
the  county  possessed  powerful  supporters  of  the  White  Rose 
whose  influence  would  tell  with  the  townsmen  in  upholding 
the  cause  of  Edward.    Prominent  among  these  was  William, 
Lord  Hastings,  whose  principal  mansion  was   the  castle  of 

10 /;7,-(f.,  pp.  43.  45,   46.  ,  ^    o         u  D  I        TT     ^^ 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  7,  note;  Merewether  and  Stephens,  Boroughs,  11,  997- 
12  Davies,  York  Records,  p.  I99»  note. 
^^Ibid.,  p.  31. 

13 


Slingsby  in  Yorkshire.  His  ancestors  had  settled  here  in  the 
time  of  Edward  II  and  had  long  been  distinguished  in  the 
county  of  York.  That  Hastings  was  upon  good  terms  with 
the  municipality  of  York  is  evident  from  entries  such  as  these 
in  the  town  records :  'And  in  the  expenses  of  William  Worell, 
riding  from  York  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  and  to  Alnwick,  to 
confer  with  Lord  Hastings,  Chamberlain  of  the  King."  On 
another  occasion  expenses  were  incurred  in  connection  with  the 
servant  of  an  alderman  riding  to  Durham  to  speak  with  Lord 
Hastings  in  order  to  obtain  his  advice  and  favour  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  city  touching  Edward's  visit.^*  So  long  as 
Edward  retained  the  goodwill  of  the  powerful  Neville  con- 
nection, he  could  count  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  certainty 
upon  having  friends  in  York.  The  same  thing  is  true,  though 
to  a  less  degree,  of  the  Scropes  of  Bolton,  bitter  foes  of  the 
house  of  Lancaster. 

If  any  single  year  is  to  be  taken  as  marking  the  turning  of 
the  inhabitants  of  York  from  Henry  to  Edward,  the  date  1461 
might  with  a  show  of  probability  be  assigned  as  the  time ;  for 
we  are  told  that  after  the  battle  of  Towton  Edward  was  gen- 
erous enough  to  take  the  citizens  into  his  favour,  at  the  earnest 
request  of  Lord  Montague  and  Lord  Berners.  "And  the  mayor 
and  commons  of  the  City  made  their  'menys'  to  have  grace, 
by  Lord  Montague  and  Lord  Berners,  which  before  the  King's 
coming  into  the  said  city  desired  him  of  grace  for  the  said 
City,  which  granted  them  grace."^^  A  more  probable  supposi- 
tion is  that  the  city  of  York  contained  adherents  both  of  Lan- 
caster and  of  York,  as  was  the  case  with  more  than  one  muni- 
cipality in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  York  is  said  to  have  been 
the  centre  of  the  strong  party  formed  in  the  north  under  the 
Earl  of  Westmoreland  and  Lords  Dacre,  Clifford,  and  Egre- 
mont.  Here  Henry  and  Margaret  assembled  their  hosts  before 
the  battle  of  Towton.  The  Palm  Sunday  which  was  to  prove 
so  disastrous  to  them  must  have  been  an  anxious  day  for  the 
citizens  of  York,  for  no  doubt  many  of  the  townsmen  were 
engaged  on  that  bloody  field,  fighting  perhaps  under  the  rival 
standards.  But  this  is  mere  conjecture,  since  we  have  no  posi- 
tive knowledge  to  what  extent  the  townsmen  were  engaged  in 

^*Ibid.,  pp.  21,  25.     The  Harringtons  of  Briefly  in  Yorkshire  were 
also  devoted,  it  is  said,  to  the  house  of  York.    Ibid.,  App.,  p.  289. 
'^^  Ibid.,  App.,  p.  292. 

14 


r> 


"i 


the  battle  of  York  Field.  The  wheel  of  fortune  took  violent 
turns  during  the  conflict  between  the  rival  factions.  Hardly 
a  decade  had  passed  by  when  the  victor  of  Towton  found  him- 
self an  exile  and  the  Lancastrian  cause  in  the  ascendant. 
Writers  have  noted  the  similarity  between  the  return  of  Ed- 
ward IV  in  147 1  and  that  of  Bolingbroke  some  seventy  years 
earlier.  Both  landed  at  the  little  port  of  Ravenspur ;  each  an- 
nounced that  he  came  only  to  claim  his  inheritance ;  and  both 
were  ready  to  resort  to  any  means  whereby  they  might  attain 
their  ends.  From  Ravenspur  Edward  proceeded  by  way  of 
Beverley  to  York.^®  No  enthusiasm  had  as  yet  been  exhibited 
for  Edward.  What  would  be  the  attitude  of  the  city  of  York 
towards  his  pretensions  ?  To  leave  so  important  a  place  in  his 
rear  as  a  rallying  point  for  his  enemies  would  have  been  dan- 
gerous in  the  extreme.  Three  miles  from  York  Edward  was 
met  by  the  recorder,  who  twice  attempted  to  discourage  him 
from  approaching  the  city.  On  the  other  hand  Robert  Clif- 
ford and  Richard  Burgh  gave  him  and  his  company  better 
comfort.  Thus  heartened,  Edward  came  to  the  gates  of  the 
city.  Here  the  larger  part  of  his  followers  stopped,  while 
Edward  with  fifteen  or  sixteen  persons  under  the  guidance  of 
the  tw^o  citizens  entered  through  Walmsgate  Bar.  Having 
made  known  to  the  body  of  the  townsmen  the  intent  and  pur- 
pose of  his  coming,  opposition  was  disarmed,  and  he  and  all 
his  fellowship  abode  in  York  that  night.  The  next  morning, 
after  being  refreshed,  Edward  led  his  company  out  of  the 
city  for  Tadcaster.  Such  is  the  plain  unvarnished  story  in  con- 
nection with  Edward's  entry  into  York  as  told  by  our  best 
authority,  the  author  of  the  "Historie  of  the  Arrivall  of  King 
Edward  IV  in  England."^^  It  will  be  noted  that  no  allusion 
w^hatever  is  made  by  the  writer  to  Edward's  promise  to  the 
citizens;  on  the  other  hand  the  testimony  of  Fabyan^®  that 
Edward  was  guilty  of  a  gross  act  of  perfidy  in  obtaining  en- 
trance into  York  in  147 1  has  been  generally  accepted.  Edward 
may  have  resorted  to  perjury  as  his  enemies  charged,  but  the 
charge  does  not  rest  upon  unquestionable  evidence.  The  fact 
that  he  gave  out  his  intention  was  merely  to  recover  his  ancient 

1^  Edward  had  been  in  York  in  the  fall  of  1469,  just  after  his  release 
from  Middleham;  and  in  March,  1470. 

^'  Page  5. 

18  Page  660.  Fabyan  was  ignorant  of  the  month  in  which  Edward 
landed. 

15 


V 


patrimony  is  hardly  open  to  doubt.     '^\nd  when  he  came  at 
York  the  Citizens  kept  hym  owte  till  they  knewe  what  was  his 
Entent ;  and  when  he  had  shewed  that  he  cam  to  noon  other 
entent  but  to  clayme  his  Inheritaunce,  which  was  the  Dukedom 
of  York,  he  was  recyved  into  the  towne,  and  there  Refresshid 
hym  and  his  people;  and  after  that  more  people  and  more 
drewe  vnto  hym."'^    Such  we  may  well  believe  is  an  accurate 
description  of  what  took  place.    The  testimony  of  the  citizens 
of  York  themselves  upon  the  point  is  interesting,  though  not 
conclusive.    Years  later  they  represented  to  a  Lancastrian  king 
that  Edward  was  not  suffered  to  enter  until  "taking  on  hyme 
the  connysance  of  there  said  souverain  lord  and  calling  King 
Henry  in  the  opyn  streits,  was  promised  and  said  openly  that 
he  wold  oonely  serve  unto  King  Henry  his  souverain  lord  at 
all  tymes  by  humble  peticion  for  his  right  to  the  Duchie  of 
York."-°     The  story  of   Edward's  entry  into  York  through 
Walmsgate  Ear  is  one  which  has  stirred  the  imagination  of  the 
poet,  the  artist,  and  the  sober  recorder  of   historical    facts. 
The  incident  of  the  walls  of  the  city  crowded  with  citizens 
looking  down  upon  Edward  and  his  followers  below  is  a  dra- 
matic one,  and  naturally  the  chroniclers  have  seized  upon  the 
chance  to  invent  parleyings  between  Edward  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  York.2i    According  to  one  account  when  the  people 
had  a  sight  of  his  person  ''their  malice  was  quenched  and  they 
joined  him" ;"  on  the  other  hand,  Edward  is  said  to  have  been 
received  with  cries  of  ''Long  Live  King  Henry,"  which  arose 
from  more  than  ten  thousand  throats."     Whatever  may  have 
been  the  precise  mode  of  Edward's  entry  into  York,  the  fact 
remains  that  he  succeeded  completely  in  disarming  the  sus- 
picions of  the  citizens.    They  are  even  said  to  have  accommo- 
dated him  with  a  considerable  loan,  though  this  statement  rests 
upon  no  sufficient  evidence.^*    According  to  one  account  which 
is   utterly   improbable,   Edward   divided   his   men,    seized   the 
guards,  confined  the  inhabitants  to  their  houses,  totally  sur- 
prised the  city  after  which  he  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed 
king."     Perhaps  after  all  the  citizens  were  not  so  unwilling 

i»  Kingsford,  Chronicles  of  London,  p.  183. 
20Davies,  York  Records,  App.,  p.  296. 

21  Cf.  Hall,  p.  292. 

22  Political  Songs  and  Poems  (ed.  Wright),  R.  S.  II,  272. 
23Waurin  V,  647;  Cf.  Warkworth,  Chronicle,  p.  14. 

2*  Hargrove,  History  of  the  City  of  York,  I,  117. 
25  Ms.  British  Museum,  Lansd.  890;  Cf.  Hall,  p.  292. 

16 


t' 


\ 


%> 


to  be  convinced  of  his  pacific  intentions.  There  were  no  doubt 
those  among  the  townsmen  who  were  still  loyal  to  his  cause ; 
and,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  reluctance  to  admit  Edward 
may  have  been  due  in  part  to  a  fear  of  Warwick. 

The  story  of  York's  part  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  may  be 
concluded  by  quoting  some  extracts  from  a  document  of  un- 
usual interest,— the  account  of  the  citizens'  share  in  the  troubles 
of  the  time  as  told  by  themselves.  They  were  now  endeavouring 
to  gain  the  goodwill  of  Henry  VI  and  naturally  emphasized 
the  services   rendered  to  the  Lancastrian   cause.     The   civic 
authorities  assured  the  King  they  were  "sure  and  fast  in  dispo- 
sicion  toward  hyme  [i.e.  Henry  VI]  ther  naturall  soverain  lord, 
to  ther  dutie  ever  redie  to  receve  and  aid  his  grace  and  other 
nobles  of  the  north  parties,  taking  his  lawfull  and  true  part 
ayenst  othre  his  adversaries  in  thoes  daies  and  to  ther  grate 
charges  and  costs  not  oonely  sent  unto  the  battell  of  Wakefeld 
CCCC  armed  and  well  arrayed  men  to  doo  him  service,  con- 
veing  aftrwards  the  Queue  grace  there  being,  and  the  famous 
prince  Edward  ther  sonne,  unto  the  batell  of  Saint  Albones, 
with  other  CCCC  of  like  men  to  th'  assistence  of  ther  said 
soverain  lord."     The  city  of  York  was  a  harbour  of  refuge 
after  Towton  for  king,  queen,  prince  and  their  adherents.    By 
the  town  there  were  "ML  men  defensible  araied,  of  the  which 
many  was  slayne  and  put  in  exile."     At  the  coming  of  Ed- 
ward, the  inhabitants  were  robbed,  despoiled  and  ransomed; 
Others  were  so  impoverished  that  many  were  constrained  to 
leave  the  city  so  that  two  parts  of  the  said  city  after  the  battle 
were    in    a    few    years    utterly    "proferated,    decaied,    and 
waisted."'^     Such  is  the  dismal  account  of  the  sufferings  and 
losses  endured  by  the  citizens  of  York  for  the  house  of  Lan- 
caster.   No  doubt  the  city  had  befriended  the  cause  of  Henry 
just,  as  we  have  seen,  it  did  that  of  York.     But  that  the  ac- 
count   exaggerated    the    services    rendered    the    former,    and 
glosses  over  those  rendered  the  latter,  there  cannot  be  the 
slightest  question.    There  is  every  reason  for  believing  that  in 
York,  as  in  several  other  boroughs,  there  existed  rival  factions 
during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  the  one  or  the  other  exerting 
the  greater  influence  according  as  the  fortunes  of  the  White  or 
the  Red  Rose  obtained  the  ascendancy ;  the  civic  authorities,  so 

26  See  Davies,  York  Records,  App.  pp.  290-296. 

17 


i- 


far  as  possible,  naturally  strove  to  avoid  incurring  the  wrath 
of  the  rival  leaders. 

The  men  of  Bristol  like  the  citizens  of  York  were  divided 
in  their  sympathies  between  the  two  rival  factions.  On  the 
one  hand  it  is  stated  that  most  of  the  merchants  of  the  city 
were  of  the  Yorkist  party  ;^^  on  the  other  hand  we  are  told 
there  were  "many  in  Bristol  who  clung  to  the  Red  Rose  and 
avowed  their  fealty  to  Henry. ^®  Bristol  was  second  only  to  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom  in  wealth  and  population.  Early  in  its 
history  it  was  described  as  "a  good  and  strong  walled  town.'* 
At  this  time  the  city  was  distinguished  for  the  number  of  its 
wealthy  merchants  and  for  the  flourishing  state  of  its  trade 
and  commerce,  though  it  had  not  recovered  from  the  blow  in- 
flicted by  the  ravages  of  the  Black  Death. ^^  Naturally  the 
temper  of  the  citizens  was  such  as  would  preclude  their  feel- 
ing any  great  degree  of  interest  in  the  dynastic  struggles  of 
the  period.  Compared  with  York,  for  instance,  the  chief  city 
of  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  kingdom  may  be  said  to 
have  enjoyed  comparative  tranquillity  during  the  sanguinary 
conflict  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster.  Certainly 
the  place  suffered  little  from  the  ravages  of  civil  war,  and 
during  the  whole  of  the  period  under  consideration  her  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  seem  to  have  pursued  their  lucrative 
callings  with  activity  and  success.  The  part  taken  in  the  con- 
flict between  York  and  Lancaster  by  the  men  of  Bristol  is 
therefore  small  when  compared  with  that  of  other  towns  which 
could  not  pretend  to  vie  with  Bristol  in  wealth  and  populous- 
ness.  The  connection  between  Bristol  and  one  of  the  rival 
factions  however  antedates  the  outbreak  of  actual  hostilities. 
In  145 1,  Thomas  Yonge,  who  was  a  half-brother  of  William 
Canynges,  Bristol's  foremost  merchant,  presented  in  parlia- 
ment a  petition  from  his  constituents  that  the  Duke  of  York 
should  be  declared  heir  to  the  crown;  for  his  rashness  Yonge 
was  committed  to  the  Tower.  In  the  third  year  of  Edward's 
reign  Yonge  became  King's  sergeant  and  four  years  later 
Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas.  His  son,  John,  a  grocer,  rose  to 
be  Lord  Mayor  of  London  and,  in  1466,  was  knighted  by  the 

27  Cf.  Seyer,  Memoirs  of  Bristol,  II,  200. 

28  Xicholls  and  Taylor,  History  of  Bristol,  I,  208,  212;  Hunt,  Bristol, 
p.  96. 

29  Cf.  Cunningham,  English  Industry  and  Commerce,  I,  453. 

18 


1 


A     ^ 


i 


Yorkist  King  on  the  field  for  bravery.^°  Yonge,  as  will  be 
seen,  was  only  one  among  several  prominent  citizens  of  Bristol 
who  favoured  the  Yorkist  cause.  On  the  other  hand  Mar- 
garet, who  it  may  be  well  believed  was  "on  the  alert  to  win  the 
great  towns  to  the  side  of  her  husband,"  visited  BristoP^  in 
I455»  presumably  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  the  towns- 
men. Several  facts  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Margaret  was 
not  unsuccessful  in  her  endeavour  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and 
aid  of  a  portion  at  least  of  the  citizens  of  Bristol.  Among 
those  who  favoured  the  Red  Rose  was  Henry  May,  a  merchant, 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  follower  of  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire 
and  Ormond.  In  1463  the  King  was  concerned  with  bringing 
about  the  punishment  of  certain  persons,  who  had  stirred  up 
commotions  and  insurrections  in  the  town  of  Bristol  and  its 
neighbourhood.^^  That  a  party  in  the  town  was  on  the  side  of 
Lancaster  seems  evident  from  the  fact  that  when  Warwick  and 
Clarence  landed  in  England  in  1470,  they  were  favourably 
received  in  Bristol,  where  they  were  joined  by  seven  or  eight 
thousand  men.^^  The  next  year  Margaret  came  to  Bristol  to 
meet  the  Duke  of  Somerset  and  other  chiefs  of  the  Lancastrian 
party.  According  to  one  account  "they  were  greatly  refreshed 
and  relevyd  by  such  as  were  the  King's  rebells  in  that  towne  of 
money,  men,  and  artilerye."  "They  toke  new  corage  the  Thurs- 
day aftar  to  take  the  field,"  and  on  May  i  the  Lancastrians 
marched  out  of  Bristol  and  "toke  theyr  way  streyght  to 
Berkeley."^*  Only  seven,  however,  of  the  burgesses  are  named 
as  the  principal  offenders.^^  In  this  same  year  Edward  sent 
letters  to  the  town  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  certain  per- 
son. Three  years  later  he  levied  large  sums  upon  the  city  for 
its  fickleness.^® 

Edward  on  his  part  was  not  indifferent  to  the  help  of  the 
Bristol  burghers,  and,  as  has  been  already  intimated,  he  was 
rewarded  with  the  zealous  support  of  a  number  of  leading  cit- 
izens.    In  the  fall  of  1461  Edward  was  a  visitor  at  Bristol 

80  Cf.  Nicholls  and  Taylor,  History  of  Bristol,  I,  214. 

31  Great  Red  Book,  p.  77.    Cf .  Nicholls  and  Taylor,  History  of  Bristol, 
I,  206. 

32  Seyer,  Memoirs  of  Bristol,  II,  192. 

33  Waurin,  V,  611. 

3*  Quoted  by  Lucas,  Illustrations  of  the  History  of  Bristol  and  its 
Neighbourhood,  p.  264. 

^^  Little  Red  Book,  II,  130-131. 
36  Ibid. 

19 


) 


and  was  most  royally  received,^'  though  of  course  this  proves 
nothing  as  to  the  preference  of  the  citizens  for  one  side  or  the 
other.    This  was  during  the  mayoralty  of  Canynges  who  had 
already  given  proof  of  his  zeal   for  the  cause  of   Edward. 
Shortly  after  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  the  mayor  and  council, 
at  the  order  of  the  King,  sent  a  fleet  against  Jasper,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  at  a  cost  of  500  marks.     It  was  probably  in  1462 
that  we  find  the  city  sending  the  King  forty  men  defensibly 
arrayed   for  the  space  of  two  months  to  attend  his  service 
at  a'cost  of  ii30.    Men  were  sent  into  the  north  for  his  serv- 
ice; the  sum  of  £200  was  furthermore  lent  the  Kingf^  while 
at  the  battle  of  Towton  the  cause  of  the  White  Rose  was  up- 
held by  a  contingent  from  Bristol  which  fought  beneath  the 
"White  Ship,"  the  banner  of  the  town.^^     ''At  this  time  both 
before  and  after,  the  state  was  in  much  combustion,"  is  the 
terse  comment  of  one  of  the  writers  of  the  times.    Some  light  is 
thrown  upon  the  attitude  of  the  men  of  Bristol  by  the  feud 
between  the  Berkeleys  and  the  Talbots  in  which  the  men  of 
Bristol  were  involved,  and  which  culminated  in  the   fray  of 
Nibley-Green,  fought  March  20,  1470.    On  this  occasion  Philip 
Mede  and  John  Shipward,  the  mayor,  both  of  whom  were 
zealous  Yorkists,  led  out  of  the  town  the  men  of  Bristol  to  the 
aid  of  the  Berkeleys.    Mede  had  been  mayor  several  times  and 
his  daughter  had  married  Maurice  Berkeley.    If  further  proof 
were  needed  of  the  popularity  of  Edward's  cause  in  Bristol,  it 
would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  he  granted  the  citizens  of  Bris- 
tol a  charter  of  great  and  valuable  privileges.    On  October  22, 
1461,   Edward   signed  at   Westminster   a   charter   similar   in 
tenour  to  one  of  Henr>'  VI.    This  King  in  the  24th  year  of  his 
reign  had  let  the  town  to  farm  to  the  mayor  and  burgesses.*^ 
December  14,  1461,  King  Edward  signed  a  charter  confirming 
that  of    19  Richard  II.    In  a  new  charter  dated  February  12, 
1461-2,  the  King  regrants  the  former  lease  of  Henry  VI  of  the 
town  and  its  profits  forever.     A  grant  was  added  of  every 
profit  which  could  possibly  arise  to  the  King  from  the  pos- 
session of  the  town  excepting  only  escheats  of  land  paying 

37Nicholls  and  Tavlor,  History  of  Bristol,  I,  207;  Hunt,  Bristol, 
p.  99.  The  date  of  the  visit  is  wrongly  assigned  to  the  year  1462  by 
the  editor  of  Warkworth's  Chronicle,  pp.  3^-32,  Notes. 

38  Great  Red  Book,  p.  205. 

^^  Archaeologia,  XXIX,  346. 

*o  Ms.    British    Museum,   Addit.    15,663. 

20 


A    4 


i 


if. 


#^ 


v: 


^ 


f 


I 


annually  a  fee-farm  of  £160.  The  charter  furthermore  makes 
mention  of  the  "notable  services  bestowed  in  various  ways  by 
our  beloved  and  faithful  subjects  the  mayor  and  commonalty 
of  Bristol."*^  Philip  Mede,  the  mayor,  is  said  to  have  gone 
to  the  King  when  one  or  all  of  these  charters  were  granted. 
The  chief  interest  perhaps  in  connection  with  the  history  of 
Bristol  during  the  period  covered  by  the  War  of  the  Roses  is 
to  be  found,  not  so  much  in  the  relations  of  the  townsmen  as 
a  whole  to  the  rival  parties,  as  in  the  attitude  of  one  of  its 
most  distinguished  citizens— William  Canynges. 

The  name  of  this  eminent  merchant  has  already  been  men- 
tioned  in   connection   with   important   services   rendered   the 
Yorkist  cause.    A  signal  proof  of  Canynges's  loyalty  to  Ed- 
ward was  shown  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VI,  when  Canyn- 
ges, who  was  mayor,  seized  with  the  approval  of  the  common 
council  a  quantity  of  ammunition  sent  to  Bristol  by  the  Lan- 
castrian government  and  put  it  in  the  "tresoure  chambyre  of 
the  saide  towne."    At  the  instance  of  the  Duke  of  York  the 
mayor  and  council  took  upon  themselves  the  rule  of  the  King's 
castle  in  Bristol,  using  a  portion  of  the  ammunition  in  this  con- 
nection.   The  balance  was  expended  in  the  expedition  against 
Jasper,  Eari  of  Pembroke,  alluded  to  above.*^    It  is  true  that 
several  historians  have  asserted  that  Canynges  was  a  Lancas- 
trian,—at  any  rate,  until  he  felt  himself  compelled  to  change 
his  politics  by  the  success  of  Edward  IV.    In  spite  of  the  fact, 
however,  that  Henry  VI  in  1449  refers  to  Canynges  as  "his  be- 
loved and  faithful  subject,"  we  are  pretty  safe  in  assuming,  as 
do  the  most  reliable  Bristol  historians,  that  Canynges  was  on 
the  side  of  the  house  of  York;  and  the  same  motives  which  de- 
termined the  attitude  of  this  successful  business  man  towards 
the  dynastic  quarrels  of  the  day  would  no  doubt  weigh  with 
others  of  his  class.    Though  Bristol  was  surrounded  by  estates 
whose  lords  have  been  generally  represented  as  Lancastrian  in 
sympathy,  yet  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  certainly  favoured 
the  cause  of  Edward.    The  town  as  a  whole  did  not  exhibit  a 
clean-cut  loyalty  towards  one  side  or  the  other. 

Between  the  King  s  levies  and  the  Earl's  retainers,  the  county 
of  W'arwickshire  probably  supplied  many  men  on  both  sides  for 
several  of  the  campaigns  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.    The  chief 

«  Seyer,  Charters  and  Letters  Patent  of  Bristol,  p.  98. 
42  Cf.  Nicholls  and  Taylor,  History  of  Bristol,  I,  213. 

21 


town  of  the  county  likewise  sent  armed  men  to  the  support  of 
both  the  rival  factions,  for  the  city  of  Coventry  was  deeply  con- 
cerned in  the  politics  of  the  time.  The  influence  of  the  power- 
ful Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  became  definitely  Lancastrian 
in  his  politics  in  1458,  together  with  the  old  connection  be- 
tween the  city  and  the  first  prince  of  the  blood  doubtless  go 
far  towards  explaining  the  loyalty  of  the  citizens  of  Coventry 
to  the  Lancastrian  cause.  In  addition  the  Court  steadily  culti- 
vated the  good-will  of  the  people  of  Coventry,  which  came  to 
be  known  as  the  "Queen's  secret  harbour."  In  return  the  men 
of  Coventry  loyally  supported  the  cause  of  the  Red  Rose  until 
alienated  from  her  cause  presumably  by  the  violence  of  Mar- 
garet and  the  unruliness  of  her  troops."*^  In  the  year  1449 
we  find  the  authorities  of  Coventry  making  provision  for  the 
equipment  of  over  six  hundred  men  for  the  city's  defence.** 
Two  years  later  the  city's  defences  were  strengthened  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  ammunition  laid  in.  In  this  same  year  the 
Leet  Book  records  the  gracious  welcome  accorded  their  sov- 
ereign Lord,  Henry  VI,  by  the  mayor  and  his  ''wurthy 
bredurn,"  who  were  thanked  by  the  King  for  having  the  best 
ruled  community  within  the  realm  during  the  year  just  past. 
As  a  reward  for  their  loyalty  and  as  an  evidence  of  his  ap- 
preciation of  the  honour  done  him  during  his  stay  in  their 
midst,  Henry  conferred  the  dignity  of  sheriffs  upon  the  bailiffs 
of  the  city.^^  The  men  of  Coventry  equipped  100  men  with 
bright  coloured  badges  for  their  ''soveren  lorde"  at  the  out- 
break of  hostilities,  but  through  no  fault  of  their  own  "they 
wenton  not,"  and  so  the  blood  of  none  of  the  citizens  of 
Coventry  was  spilled  at  St.  Albans'  fight.**^  In  1456  Margaret, 
distrustful  of  the  Londoners,  moved  the  Court  to  Coventry, 
where  it  continued  with  intervals  for  upwards  of  a  year.*^  The 
Queen  was  welcomed  with  pageants  and  costly  entertain- 
ments.*® Here  Margaret  rallied  her  forces  after  the  defeat  at 
Blore  Heath.  On  November  20,  1459,  parliament  met  at 
Coventry,  the  Yorkists  being  conspicuous  by   their  absence. 

♦5  A  vivid  account  of  the  ravages  of  the  northern  troops  is  given  by 
Whethamstede,  I.  388-390. 

**  Harris,  Story  of  Coventry,  p.  114. 

*5  Ibid.,  pp.  1 16- 1 21. 

*^  Harris.  Life  in  an  Old  English  Toum,  pp.  147,150. 

*7  See  Paston  Letters,  I,  403.  Cf.  Ihid.,  Introd.,  p.  cxcvi,  et  seq.; 
Fabyan,  Chronicle,  p.  631. 

*8  Harris,  Story  of  Coventry,  pp.  124-126. 

a2 


I 


•1 


.  4 


* 


At  the  battle  of  Towton  a  detachment  of  Coventry  men  is 
said  to  have  fought  on  Henry's  side.  In  1460,  however,  the 
zeal  of  the  men  of  Coventry  for  the  Lancastrian  cause  seems 
to  have  abated.  This  may  have  been  due  to  the  ruthless  actions 
of  the  Queen  and  the  violence  of  her  followers,  whose  devasta- 
tions, we  are  told,  completely  alienated  the  Coventry  bur- 
gesses.*^ The  death  of  Buckingham  probably  removed  one  of 
the  influences  which  had  been  powerful  in  keeping  the  Coven- 
try citizens  loyal  to  Henry.'^^  Probably  there  was  a  Yorkist 
faction  in  the  city  which  now  succeeded  in  gaining  the  upper 
hand.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  the  fact  remains 
that  the  men  of  Coventry  became  for  the  time  being  staunch 
followers  of  Edward,  nor  is  there  any  record  of  their  having 
been  impelled  to  this  course  by  bribes  or  promises  on  the  part 
of  the  King.^^  After  the  battle  of  St.  Albans  £100  was  col- 
lected throughout  the  wards  for  the  men  to  go  to  London  with 
''the  earl  of  March."  On  the  day  after  his  coronation  Edward 
despatched  a  letter  to  the  mayor  and  his  brethren  full  of  thanks 
for  the  citizens'  loyalty  to  his  cause,  praying  their  ''good  contin- 
uance in  the  same,"  and  praising  their  good  and  substantial  rule." 
At  Towton  the  men  of  Coventry  fought  in  the  Yorkist  ranks  un- 
der the  standard  of  the  "Black  Ram."  i8o  was  collected  through- 
out the  wards  for  the  100  men  "which  went  with  oure  soverayn 
liege  lord  Kyng  Edward  lllV^^  to  the  felde  yn  the  north." 
When  Edward  returned  to  his  "cite  of  Coventre  from  the  felde 
yn  the  North"  he  was  presented  with  iioo  and  a  cup.  In  the 
year  after  Towton  £40  was  collected  to  be  given  to  Warwick 
for  the  payment  of  forty  men  that  went  to  the  north  to  resist 
"Kyng  Henry  and  Queue  Marget  that  were/'^^  In  the  years 
that  followed  Edward  is  said  to  have  treated  the  Coventry 
folk  graciously,  paying  them  several  visits." 

The  power  formerly  exercised  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
in  the  Midlands  now  seems  to  pass  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
who,  in  1464,  was  meddling  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Coventry. 

In  1467  King  and  King-maker  were  upon  such  bad  terms  that 

*^  Ibid,  p.  132. 

^^  For  an  illustration  of  the  influence  exerted  by   Buckingham,   see 
Paston  Letters,  I,  Introd.,  p.  cxxix. 

51  Cf .  Harris,  Life  in  an  Old  English  Tou*n,  p.  169 ;  Story  of  Coven- 
try,  p.  169. 

52  These  facts  are  taken  from  the  Story  of  Coventry,  pp.   133-134. 
^^  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


we  find  the  former  going  to  Coventry  to  keep  watch  upon  the 
great  Earl.    When  it  came  to  choosing  between  Edward  and 
Warwick  the  men  of  Coventry,  like  those  of  the  Cinque  Ports, 
seem  to  have  preferred  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  powerful 
nobleman  who  was  now  plotting  Edward's  overthrow.^*     In 
the  summer  of  1469  both  the  King  and  Warwick  were  soliciting 
the  aid  of  the  civic  authorities ;  and,  at  the  command  of  Ed- 
ward, troops,  raised  not  without  difficulty,  were  sent  to  the 
north  to  join  the  royal  forces.    Shortly  afterwards  the  people 
of  Coventry  saw  their  sovereign  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
Warwick.    The  men  of  Coventry  found  themselves  and  their 
property  between  the  upper  and  the  nether  mill-stones  in  these 
trying  times.     In  February,  1470,  in  response  to  a  command 
from  Edward  money  was  collected  throughout  the  wards  for 
men  to  go  to  Grantham.^^    Warwick  and  Clarence  with  their 
levies  tarried  at  Coventry  while  Edward  was  winning  the  battle 
of   "Losecoat    Field."      Clarence    succeeded    in    cajoling    the 
citizens  into  a  loan  of  300  marks,  leaving  in  pledge  a  handsome 
jewel.''     When  Edward  passed  through  Coventry  in  pursuit 
of  the  rebels,  forty  men  joined  him,  receiving  I2d  a  day  for 
their   services."      'Tor   the   citizens   of    Coventry— provident 
men— afforded  help  to  either  party,  hoping  surely  to  have  their 
reward  whichever  side  might  prevail  in  the  end."     A  proceed- 
ing which  was  surely  most  natural  under  the  circumstances; 
such  a  policy  seemed  the  only  one  left  to  the  burgesses  whereby 
they  might  avert  the  ruin  which  threatened  their  business  and 
their  finances.     With  examples  of  treachery  rife  before  their 
eyes,  the  citizens  can  hardly  be  condemned   for  pursuing  a 
temporizing  policy.     Their  attitude  of  seeming  double-dealing 
takes  on  a  different  light  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  it  is 
by  no  means  improbable  that  parties  in  the  city  were  pretty 
evenly  balanced,  the  partisans  of  the  White  or  the  Red  Rose 
gaining  the  upper  hand  for  the  time  being,  according  as  the 
fortunes  of  Edward  or  of  Warwick  were  in  the  ascendant. 
These  were  times  when  every  "house  was  divided  against  it- 
self, and  few  except  the  chief  actors  in  the  drama  sustained 
their  part  with  honesty  and  consistency."     To  Margaret  and 

5*/Md.,  pp.  140-141. 

^^Ibid.,  p.  145- 
5«  Ibid.,  p.  146. 
"  Ibid. 

24 


), 


0^    . 


^  4 


! 


I 


/ 


her  cause  the  men  of  Coventry  showed  a  commendable  loyalty 
till  aUenated  by  justifiable  reasons.  As  the  war  progressed, 
and  it  became  increasingly  evident  that  neither  side  was  con- 
tending for  any  just  principle,  small  wonder  that  the  citizens 
felt  they  were  justified  in  making  the  best  terms  they  could 
with  the  predominant  party. 

The  most  trying  times  of  all  were  yet  in  store  for  the  men 
of  Coventry.  When  Edward  began  his  march  southward  in 
1471,  Warwick  retired  to  Coventry.  Here  Edward  failed  to 
dislodge  him.''®  The  townsfolk  lent  Warwick  100  marks ;  they 
had  now  burned  their  bridges  behind  them,  for  when  Warwick 
departed  to  give  Edward  battle  twenty  horse  and  twenty  foot 
accompanied  him  and  fought  at  Barnet  Field.'^  ''Military 
items  crowd  the  years  1469-71,  when  money  flowed  like  water 
for  the  pay  of  soldiers,  whose  wages  rose  from  the  normal 
rate  of  6d  to  I2d  a  day."^'  If  "the  Lenton  next  afore  Barnet 
ffeld"  had  been  a  season  of  terrible  anxiety  to  the  townsmen, 
what  must  have  been  their  consternation  when  they  heard  of 
the  defeat  and  death  of  the  King-maker!  Nothing  remained 
for  the  men  of  Coventry  but  to  make  their  peace  on  the  best 
terms  possible  with  the  Yorkist  King.  Accordingly  a  letter 
from  Prince  Edward  was  sent  the  King  as  an  indication  of 
the  good- will  of  the  towns folk.^^ 

In  May  Edward  came  to  Coventry,  having  crushed  Mar- 
garet and  her  forces  at  Tewkesbury.  Here  he  remained  for 
nearly  a  week  raising  new  levies,  as  there  were  threats  of  a 
fresh  rising  of  northern  Lancastrians.'^^  gut  the  rebellion  came 
to  naught,  the  "citie  of  Yorke,  and  other  good  townes  and 
countryes,  lowly  submittinge  them."  Edward  left  Coventry 
for  London  on  May  16.  But  before  setting  out,  unmindful  of 
the  costs  and  burdens  of  the  citizens  in  his  behalf,  he  avenged 
himself  upon  the  city  in  summary  fashion  for  having  taken 
the  wrong  side  in  the  campaign  ending  at  Barnet.  The  mayor 
was  deprived  of  the  civic  sword,  the  liberties  and  franchises 
of  the  city  seized,  and  the  charter  suspended  until  redeemed 
by  a  fine  of  500  marks.*^^    Thus  did  the  citizens  experience  '*the 

^^  Arrirall  of  King  Edward  IV,  p.  13. 

59  Harris,  Story  of  Coventry,  pp.  150-151- 

60  Coventry  Lcct  Book,  Ft.  IV,  Introd.,  p.  xlvi. 

61  Harris,  'Story  of  Coventry,  p.  152. 

^2  Arrivall  of  King  Edivard  IT,  pp.  3^-33- 

63  Whitby,   Parliamentary   Representation   of   the   City   of  Coventry, 

pp.  27-28. 

25 


hevy  greflfe  that  our  souveraign  lord  beer  to  the  citee  .  .  . 
ffor  the  tyme  that  Richard,  late  Erie  of  Warwyke,  with  oder 
to  hym  then  acompanyed,  kept  the  citee  in  defence  agenst  his 
Royall  highness  in  the  Lenton  next  afore  Barnett   ffeld."" 

Looking  back  over  the  long  period  of  twenty  years  during 
which  their  city  had  been  so  frequently  drawn  into  the  conflict 
between  selfish  princes  and  nobles,  the  townsmen  could  see 
as  a  result  of  that  struggle  nothing  but  disordered  finances  and 
ruined  trade.  In  support  of  the  Yorkist  cause  alone  the  town 
had  raised  £320  and  put  180  men  in  the  field.  Even  more  un- 
grudgingly had  the  city  given  proof  of  its  loyalty  to  Margaret 
until  by  her  own  violence  she  had  alienated  the  good-will  of 
the  townsfolk.  Neither  Margaret  nor  Edward  nor  Warwick 
seems  to  have  felt  any  concern  on  account  of  the  hardships 
that  befell  the  town  or  to  have  shown  a  spark  of  sympathy 
with  the  burghers  in  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  they 
found  themselves.  To  Margaret  and  to  Edward  alike  the  city 
was  merely  a  storehouse  from  which  men  and  money  could  be 
obtained  for  the  furtherance  of  their  own  dynastic  aims.  It 
has  been  a  general  impression  that  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  did 
little  harm  to  the  towns.  Such  a  notion  finds  a  striking  refuta- 
tion in  the  case  of  Coventry,  whose  finances  were  sadly  disor- 
ganized by  the  active  participation  of  the  city  government  in 
the  civil  broils  of  the  time.^^  Nor  was  Coventry  the  only 
borough  which  suflFered  in  this  respect. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Norwich  during  the  strug- 
gle between  Lancaster  and  York  is  provokingly  meagre.  From 
the  influence  of  the  Mowbrays  it  would  be  inferred  that  Nor- 
folk was  Yorkist  in  its  sympathies ;  on  the  other  hand  it  would 
seem  the  county  did  not  take  any  active  part  in  the  party  con- 
flicts of  the  time.  So  far  as  the  city  itself  was  concerned,  its 
leanings  were  probably  towards  the  house  of  Lancaster.  But 
as  in  the  case  of  Coventry  bad  times  had  overtaken  the  cit- 
izens;  city  politics  had  been  in  a  state  of  turmoil  for  years 
before  the  outbreak  of  civil  war;  while  from  one  cause  and 
another  poverty  and  exhaustion  were  making  themselves  felt 
among  the  townsfolk.  In  1452  the  Queen  visited  Norwich 
among  other  cities,  endeavouring  to  make  what  friends  she 

«*  Harris,  Life  in  an  Old  English  Town,  p.  172.     See  also  Camden 
Miscellany  (C.  S.),  I,  25. 
65  See  Harris,  Story  of  Coventry,  pp.  135-139. 


could  against  the  stormy  times  which   were  at  hand.     The 
commons  resolved  to  advance   100  marks  as  a  loan  to  the 
King ;  the  aldermen  on  their  part  made  her  a  present  of  £40, 
which  was  raised  to  100  marks  by  the  commons,  who  in  addi- 
tion added  £10  for  the  King's  brothers.    The  result  was  that 
the  King  had  in  all  200  marks  of  the  citizens.    The  considera- 
tion for  the  gift  was  a  new  charter  confirming  all  the  old  liber- 
ties of  the  citizens  and  granting  them  several  new  ones.     To 
ingratiate  herself  with  the  city,  Margaret  had  the  charter  con- 
sented to  in  full  parliament.     It  was  dated  at  Westminster, 
17th  of  March,  30th  Henry  VI.     The  mayor,  recorder,  and 
all  such  aldermen  as  had  borne  the  office  of  mayor  were  to  be 
justices  of  the  peace  for  the  city  and  county,  the  said  justices 
being  empowered  to  enquire  of  all  things  belonging  to  the  of- 
fice of  justice  of  the  peace ;  the  aldermen  were  permitted  to 
elect   the   under-sheriff,   town   clerks,   and   sheriff's  bailiffs.«« 
In  1460,  another  commission,  bearing  date  of  June  3rd,  com- 
manded the  mayor  to  make  immediate  proclamation  through 
all  the  city  and  suburbs,  that  all  the  King's  subjects  should 
repair  to  him  well  armed  upon  pain  of  forfeiture.    The  mayor 
and  aldermen  accordingly  raised  forty  armed  men,  and  the 
commons  eighty.    At  his  earnest  request,  William  Rookwood, 
Esq.,  was  made  their  captain.    An  agreement  was  made  with 
the  men  at  sixpence  a  day  for  each  soldier  who  went  to  the 
assistance  of  the  King.    Henry  wrote  the  authorities  a  letter 
of  thanks  which  contained  the  request  that  they  would  main- 
tain them  for  one  month  longer,  which  was  readily  complied 

with.^^ 

A  letter  from  King  Edward  IV,  however,  commanded  the 
townsmen  to  proclaim  him  by  the  name  of  King  Edward ;  and 
that  all  persons  of  what  degree  so  ever  between  sixteen  and 
sixty  years  of  age  should  arm  themselves  in  a  defensible  man- 
ner and  hasten  to  him  with  all  possible  speed.  Nothing  was 
left  for  the  citizens  to  do  but  to  submit,  since  it  would  have 
been  folly  for  the  city  to  hold  out  against  the  Yorkist  King 
now  that  Henry  was  powerless  to  render  them  aid.  Accord- 
ingly Edward  was  proclaimed  King  and  assigned  a  competent 
number  of  soldiers.  A  great  quantity  of  provisions  was  also 
provided,  for  which  the  moiety  of  a  whole  tenth  was  assessed 

6«  Blomefield,  Norfolk,  III,  158-159. 
^Ubid.,  Ill,  162. 

27 


throughout  the  city.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  town's 
captain  and  his  120  soldiers  were  still  with  King  Henry  in 
the  north  parts  of  the  kingdom.^®  To  ingratiate  himself  with 
the  townsmen,  who  sympathized  with  the  fallen  Henry,  Edward 
confirmed  all  the  former  charters  of  the  city  by  inspeximus, 
wherein  they  are  recited  at  large.  This  was  done  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  citizens,  and  is  another  instance  of  the  eagerness 
of  the  Yorkist  monarch  to  win  the  favour  of  the  towns.  The 
charter  is  dated  at  Westminster,  February  10,  1461.®^  In  1469 
the  King  was  at  Norwich  and  was  grandly  received/*^  Two 
years  later,  however,  Edward  avoided  landing  on  the  Norfolk 
coast,  since  he  received  no  assurances  of  a  friendly  reception. 
Probably  if  left  to  its  own  inclination,  the  city  of  Norwich 
would  have  adhered  to  the  cause  of  Lancaster;  from  this  at- 
titude it  was  prevented  by  fear  of  incurring  the  wrath  of  Ed- 
ward, when  his  fortunes  were  in  the  ascendant. 

We  have  now  surveyed  the  part  played  by  five  of  the  leading 
boroughs  of  England  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  each  town 
representing  a  different  portion  of  the  realm.  It  is  apparent, 
from  the  foregoing  account,  that  the  general  impression  that 
the  more  flourishing  centers  of  trade  and  industry  steadily 
favoured  the  cause  of  Edward,  must  be  modified  in  certain 
important  particulars.  Of  these,  London,  as  we  have  seen, 
while  containing  adherents  of  both  the  Red  and  the  White 
Rose,  practically  decided  the  contest  in  favor  of  Edward  "who 
had  found  good  friends  in  London" ;  for  had  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  held  out  against  the  supporters  of  the  house  of  York, 
the  efforts  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  of  Edward  to  oust  the 
house  of  Lancaster  must  have  ended  in  failure.  The  city  of 
York  likewise  contained  followers  of  both  of  the  rival  factions ; 
nor  is  this  surprising  when  we  consider  the  influence  wielded 
by  the  great  families  of  the  north,  some  of  whom  favoured 
York,  while  others  remained  loyal  to  the  cause  of  Henry  and 
of  Margaret.  A  portion  of  the  burgesses  of  Bristol  sided 
with  the  house  of  York,  but  as  has  been  shown,  this  flourish- 
ing centre  of  commerce  and  industry  had  its  Lancastrian  sym- 
pathizers also.  On  the  whole  the  attitude  of  Bristol  was  not 
decisive  one  way  or  the  other,  so  far  as  the  fortunes  of  the 

^^  Ibid.,  163;  Cf.  Patent  Rolls,  1461-1467,  p.  67. 
«9  Blomefield,  Norfolk,  III,  166. 
"f^Ibid.,  167. 

28 


i 


\ 


conflict  were  concerned.  Its  location,  together  with  the  fact 
that  its  citizens  were  engrossed  in  profitable  business  enter- 
prises, rendered  the  town  comparatively  free  from  the  evils  of 
civil  strife.  Coventry  and  to  a  less  degree  Norwich  were  con- 
spicuous for  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Lancastrian  cause, 
though  the  former  partly  of  its  own  volition  and  partly  from 
force  of  circumstances  rendered  aid  to  the  Yorkist  cause  also. 
The  leaders  of  both  parties  showed,  as  we  have  seen,  them- 
selves keenly  alive  to  the  necessity  of  winning  the  support 
of  the  burgher  class.  Evidence  of  this  is  to  be  observed  not 
only  in  the  case  of  the  towns  whose  history  has  just  been  con- 
sidered, but  is  to  be  seen  also  in  the  case  of  those  smaller 
boroughs  which  found  themselves  drawn  into  the  civil  conflict. 
In  a  few  instances  we  find  the  governing  officials  and  the  body 
of  townsmen  consistently  adhering  to  one  side  or  the  other 
throughout  the  struggle.  As  has  been  intimated  already,  the 
leaders  in  the  conflict  were  actuated  by  no  consistent  set  of 
principles,  and  it  is  hardly  surprising  in  view  of  all  the  circum- 
stances to  find  the  townsmen  governed  in  their  attitude  to  a 
great  extent  by  motives  of  expediency. 


29 


CHAPTER  IV 

Lincoln,  Colchester,  Southampton, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 

Of  all  parts  of  England,  Lincolnshire  is  perhaps  the  one 
in  which  the  Nevilles  had  least  interest  and  following,  since 
the  great  estates  of  the  shire  belonged  to  the  duchy  of  Lan- 
caster and  to  the   supporters   of   Henry   VL     It   is   natural 
therefore  to  suppose  the  region  was  hostile  to  Edward  IV. 
Prominent  among  those  who  incurred  the  enmity  of  Edward 
were  Lord  Welles  and  his  son,   Sir  Robert  Welles,  both  of 
whom  were  executed  for  being  involved  in  the  rising  in  Lin- 
colnshire in  the  early  spring  of  1470,  in  which  the  Duke  of 
Clarence  and  Earl  of  Warwick  were  both  implicated.^     The 
army  defeated  under  Sir  Robert  in  the  action  near  Stamford 
was' in  all  likelihood  recruited  partly  in  the  city  of  Lincoln. 
The  city  was  therefore  presumably  Lancastrian  in  sympathy 
and,  in  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  was  in  all 
probability  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  Red  Rose.    Evidence  is 
lacking  to  support  the  statements  of  those  writers  who  refer 
to  the  devotion  manifested  by  the  city  to  the  house  of  Lan- 
caster.   The  town  is  said  to  have  suffered  much  in  the  course 
of  the  struggle  between  the  rival  factions.    To  the  honour  of 
the  townsmen  they  refused  to  espouse  the  cause  of  Edward 
after  he  had  granted  them,  by  way  of  a  bribe,  no  doubt,  many 
privileges   unenjoyed   before.     When   he   visited   the   city   in 
March,   1461,  on  his  way  to  Towton,  naturally  he  was   re- 
ceived with  honour  by  the  townsfolk.    By  order  of  the  mayor 
and  corporation,  twelve  pike,  twelve  tench,  and  twelve  bream 
were  allotted  to  the  King's  table  during  his  stay  in  the  city. 
On  August  23,  1463,  Edward  signed  letters  patent  acquitting 
the  city  from  payment  of  £100,  part  of  the  fee-farm  rent  of 
£180,  and  in  February,  1466,  he  granted  the  mayor,  Thomas 
Grantham,    and   citizens,   in   relief   of   the    desolation    which 
had  come  upon  the  city,  the  four  villages  of  Bramstone,  Wad- 

1  See  Camden  Miscellany,  Vol.  I. 

30 


yngton,  Bracebrigge,  and  Camwick,  and  a  large  number  of  quit- 
rents  paid  to  the  Crown  for  various  houses  in  the  city,  many  of 
which  had  formerly  belonged  to  Jews.- 

On  the  other  hand  the  loyalty  of  the  townsmen  may  have 
been  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  city  of  Lmcoln  had  re- 
ceived  marks  of  favour  from  three  Lancastrian  kmgs  m  a  sub- 
stantial manner;   for  each  of  the   Henries  had  granted   the 
townsmen  charters.     Henry   IV   commanded   the   judges  o 
assize  in  Lincolnshire  to  permit  the  mayor  and  citizens  ot 
Lincoln  to  enjoy  without  interruption  the  liberty  of  trial  of 
causes  formerly  granted  to  the  mayor  and  bailiffs ;  the  city 
moreover  was  permitted  to  acquire  lands,  tenements,  and  rents 
to  the  annual  value  of  £120,  while  the  citizens  were  excused 
from  all  payments  of  tenths  and  fifteenths  for  forty  years. 
From  this  it  may  be  inferred  as  in  the  case  of  Norwich  that 
Lincoln  was  by  no  means  the  flourishing  borough  that  it  had 
been  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.    Indeed  there  were  said 
to  be  scarcely  200  citizens  in  the  city,  to  such  an  extent  had 
the  place  suflfered  from  pestilence,  the  withdrawal  of  mer- 
chants,  and  the  evils  consequent  upon  civil  war.    Though  this 
may  be  an  exaggeration,  it  is  evident  that  Lincoln  was  no 
longer  the  important  town  it  had  been  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century.^     It  was  not  to  be  expected  therefore  that  the 
citizens  should  be  able  to  render  either  side  effective  support^ 
-Yorkist  Colchster"  is  the  designation  given  to  this  borough 
bv  one  writer,  yet  there  is  no  record  of  any  active  part  taken 
by  the  town  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.     There  are  reasons, 
however,  for  believing  the  townsmen  sympathized  with  the 
house  of  York  in  its  struggle  with  Lancaster.    At  the  time  of 
the  insurrection  of  Cade,  it  will  be  recalled  that  Colchester  was 
one  of  the  cities  to  which  "a  quarter  of  oon  Niclas  Jakes 
atteint  of  high  treason''  was  to  be  sent.     In  the  county  of 
Essex  however,  were  to  be  found  many  Lancastrian  lords  and 
retainers.    More  pertinent  in  its  bearing  upon  the  attitude  of 
the  town  is  the  fact  that  Henry  VI  deprived  the  borough  of 
its  most  valuable  privileges,  the  Fishery  of  the  Colne,  and 
bestowed  it  upon  his  favourite,  John  de  Vere,  the  Earl  of 
Oxford     On  the  other  hand  Edward  IV  granted  the  towns- 
men the  fullest  charter  they  had  ever  had.    This  charter  which 

2  Cf .  Sympson,  Lincoln,  pp.  99-100. 

3  Ibid. 

31 


J 


amounts  to  a  "reorganization  of  the  constitution  of  the  cor- 
poration" is  in  part  as  follows:  "Considering  that  the  burgh 
of  Colchester  was  one  of  the  ancientest  burghs  in  the  kingdom 
of  England,  that  it  was  situated  near  the  seacoasts,  to  oppose 
the  attempts  of  his  enemies  that  were  disposed  to  invade  the 
kingdom,  and  remembering  the  very  great  faithfulness  and 
loyalty  of  the  burgesses  of  that  burgh,  both  to  himself  and 
his  predecessors,  Kings  of  England,"  all  previous  charters  were 
confirmed,  and  it  was  granted  also  that  the  bailiffs  and  bur- 
gesses and  their  successors  consisting  of  two  bailiffs  and  one 
commonalty,  should  forever  be  one  perpetual  body  and  com- 
monalty, incorporated  by  the  name  of  the  bailiffs  and  com- 
monalty of  the  burgh  of  Colchester,  and  that  the  bailiffs  should 
hold,  in  the  Moothall,  a  court  every  week,  on  Monday  and 
Thursdays ;  that  a  common  council  shall  be  elected,  besides 
other  considerable  privileges.  No  person  was  allowed  to  re- 
main within  the  precincts  of  the  town  forty  days  without 
taking  the  oath  of  fealty  to  Edward.*  As  to  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  great  families  of  the  county  in  explaining  the 
preference  of  the  citizens  of  Colchester  for  the  Yorkist  cause, 
little  can  be  said.  If  the  de  Veres  were  Lancastrian,  the 
Bourchiers  threw  the  weight  of  their  powerful  family  connec- 
tion in  favour  of  Edward.  With  Colchester  our  survey  of  the 
more  important  boroughs  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  is  con- 
cluded, for  there  is  no  record  of  Lynn  having  had  any  share 
in  the  civil  strife  of  the  period. 

We  may  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  group  of  average 
middle-sized  boroughs.  The  population  of  most  of  these  ranged 
perhaps  from  1500  to  5000,  though  here  again  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  nothing  more  is  attempted  than  to  indicate 
roughly  the  relative  size  of  the  different  towns  which  were 
concerned  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  As  has  been  seen,  no 
relation  exists  between  the  size  of  a  particular  borough  and 
its  activities  in  the  civil  strife  of  the  period ;  for  local  causes, 
such  as  the  influence  of  neighboring  magnates,  or  the  strategic 
location  of  a  town  might  bring  it  about  that  a  place  of  rela- 
tively small  size  played  a  much  more  important  role  in  the  poli- 
tics of  the  time  than  one  of  relatively  greater  population  and 
wealth.     Instances  of  this  have  already  been  noted,  and  fur- 

*  Red    Paper    Book    of    Colchester,    p.    4;    Charters    of    Colchester 
p.  46. 

32 


r  „ 


4     ^ 


ther  illustrations  of  the  same  fact  will  be  given  below.     Al- 
ready in  the  fifteenth  century  we  meet  with  indications  of  the 
decay  in  wealth  and  population  of  certain  boroughs,  and  it  is 
well  known  how  general  a  complaint  arises  in  this  connection 
in  the  succeeding  century,  though  it  would  seem  the  evidence 
for  the  decay  of  towns  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  by  no  means 
justifies  the  gloomy  picture  that  has  been  drawn  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  towns  of  that  period.     Inasmuch  as  agriculture 
was  the  dominant  form  of  industry  in  the  English  medieval 
boroughs,  and  if,  as  we  are  assured,  agriculture  remained  sta- 
tionary during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  then  it  can 
readily  be  seen  why  the  inland  towns  of  England  made  rela- 
tively such  slow  gains  in  the  period  between  the  reign  of  the 
third  Edward  and  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.    On  the 
other  hand,  towns  which  were  favourably  situated   for  pur- 
poses of  commerce  would  reap  the  benefits  of  increased  trade 
relations  with  foreign  countries,  as  was  the  case  with  Bristol 
and  some  of  the  southeastern  ports.     Southampton,   for  in- 
stance, which  ranked  among  the  smaller  boroughs  of  the  realm 
at  the  time  of  the  subsidy  of  1377,  had  by  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  become  one  of  the  most  important  commercial 
centers  in  the  realm. 

Naturally  the  reputed  treasures  of  the  great  southern  port 
were  coveted  by  the  rival  claimants  to  the  throne.    In  the  case 
of  Southampton,  as  in  that  of  Coventry,  the  struggle  between 
York  and  Lancaster  spelled  ruin  for  the  municipal  finances. 
What  with  the  demands  made  upon  them  by  the  Lancastrian 
lords  on  the  one  side,  and  by  Edward  upon  the  other,  the  town 
government  was  sorely  perplexed  at  the  disaster  which  threat- 
ened their  city's  prosperity.    Surely  little  love  must  have  been 
lost  upon  the  leaders  of  either  the  W^hite  or  of  the  Red  Rose 
faction  by  the  merchants  of  Southampton ;  for  whichever  side 
the  townsfolk  favoured,  they  were  likely  to  regret  it.    Edward 
IV,  with  his  characteristic  policy  of  winning  to  his  side  the 
more  important  boroughs,  visited  Southampton  in  the  autumn 
of  1461.    The  King  received  a  pipe  of  wine  as  a  present  from 
the  town  and,  what  was  of  more  consequence,  for  the  towns- 
men, he  granted  them  a  new  charter  in  which  mention  is  made 
of  "the  faithful  and  laudable  submission  with  which  they  (i.e. 
the  townsmen)   have  shewn  themselves  hitherto   grateful   in 
all  things  to  us  and  to  our  ancestors  ...  and  especially  ready 

33 


in  late  years  for  the  expenses,  costs,  labours,  burdens,  and 
perils,  and  these  not  small"  ...  The  hope  is  expressed  that 
the  citizens  "will  be  more  strongly  and  effectually  bound  to 
pay  to  us  and  our  heirs  similar  gratitude  for  the  future,  and 
will  show  themselves  more  ready  to  serve  us  according  to  their 
income."'  In  April,  1470,  the  King  was  again  at  Southamp- 
ton. Among  other  expenses  incurred  by  the  commonalty  were 
those  for  presents  and  for  entertainments  for  Lord  Scales  and 
other  notables.  This  entry  occurs  among  the  town  records: 
"Item,  payde  to  Watkyn  Latham,  towne  clerke  of  this  towne, 
the  XXIJ  day  of  May,  when  he  rode  wt  the  kyng  to  Chichester 
to  have  a  wrytyng  of  the  money  pt  the  kyng  had  granted  to 
the  towne."  The  reason  why  the  King  had  made  a  grant  to 
the  town  is  not  stated;  most  probably  it  was  a  token  of  Ed- 
ward's gratitude  for  the  services  rendered  him  by  the  bur- 
gesses. Another  entry  which  is  more  significant  reads  as  fol- 
lows:  "Item,  payde  to  the  sowdyers  that  were  sent  to  the 
kyng  into  the  northe  countrey  by  the  town;  when  they  were 
come  home  agen  they  asked  alowaunse,  and  the  maire  by  the 
assent  and  avysement  of  his  brethren  in  the  churche  of  Holy 
Rodes  allowed  them  XXVJ«  VIIJ^."«  If  they  could  have  had 
their  own  way  no  doubt  the  majority  of  the  burghers  of  South- 
ampton, like  those  of  Bristol,  would  have  preferred  to  hold 
aloof  from  the  strife  of  the  warring  factions,  reaping  the  re- 
wards of  their  prosperous  foreign  trade  and  fighting  out  their 
own  civic  battles  over  the  election  of  a  mayor  or  some  other 
matter  of  internal  polity.  From  the  evidence  presented  above 
it  is  reasonably  clear  that  the  men  of  Southampton  favoured 
the  cause  of  Edward,  nor  is  there  any  reason  for  believing  that 
their  allegiance  was  entirely  a  matter  of  compulsion.  The 
same  motives  which  led  Canynges  and  the  more  prominent 
merchants  of  Bristol  to  side  with  the  Yorkists  would  likely 
prevail  with  the  traders  of  the  great  southern  port.  Moreover 
Southampton,  in  common  with  the  southeastern  ports  of 
the  realm,  would  feel  a  keener  interest  than  inland  towns  in 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  Crown  and  would  be  more  directly 
affected  by  the  loss  of  England's  foreign  possessions.  There 
was  nothing  in  Henry  VI's  hapless   foreign  policy  to  enlist 


t  • 


«  «t 


either  the  enthusiasm  or  the  support  of  the  burghers  of  South- 
ampton in  behalf  of  the  Lancastrian  cause. 

If  Southampton  was  firm  in  its  friendship  for  Edward  IV,  it 
is  not  so  clear  that  such  was  the  case  with  Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne;  for  this  town,  like  York,  was  disciplined  by  Edward 
for  containing  those  hostile  to  his  cause.'  "We  have  people  I 
know  here,"  wrote  John  Paston  the  younger.^  On  the  other 
hand,  the  men  of  Newcastle,  in  1463,  repulsed  a  Lancastrian 
attack  without  help,  and  seem  to  have  denied  Queen  Margaret 
admission  the  year  before.  In  this  same  year  the  mayor  and 
burgesses  were  among  the  recipients  of  some  of  the  forfeited 
estates  of  the  third  earl  of  Northumberland  who  fell  at  Towton, 
obtaining  from  the  Crown  the  manor  of  Byker.  Four  years 
later  Edward  confirmed  the  charters  and  privileges  of  the 
townsmen.^  From  this  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  men  of 
Newcastle  sided  w^ith  Edward  or  else  that  he  desired  to  gain 
their  good  will  by  the  favours  bestowed  upon  them. 

7  Whethamstede,  I,  411. 

8  Paston  Letters,  II,  121. 

^Welford,  History  of  Newcastle  and  Gateshead  in  the  14th  and  13th 
Centuries,  pp.  345,  349,  35^. 


5  Gidden,  Charters  of  the  Borough  of  Southampton.  I,  loi. 
*  Quoted  by  Davies,  History  of  Southampton,  p.  472. 

34 


35 


I 


CHAPTER  V 

Hull,  Gloucester,  Exeter 

The  assertion  that  the  boroughs  were  actuated  solely  by  self- 
interest  in  the  wars  of  the  Roses  and  were  swayed  by  no  sen- 
timent of  loyalty,  finds  a  striking  refutation  in  the  case  of 
Hull,  whose  citizens  from  first  to  last  remained  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  the  Red  Rose.    The  town  of  Hull  was  beholden 
to  Henry  \T  for  proofs  of  that  monarch's  favour,  and  on  its 
part  continued  firm  and  unshaken  in  its  fidelity  to  him.    '*Yet 
for  all  that  to  the  eternal  honour  of  this  town,  it  would  for- 
sake neither  him  nor  his,  but  stood  upon  their  guard  in  de- 
fense of  him  to  the  last."    Nor  was  the  loyalty  of  the  towns- 
men confined  to  empty  words;   for,   as   will  be  seen,   both 
magistrates  and  inhabitants  gave  unequivocal  proofs  of  their 
gratitude  and  loyahy  to  Henry  VI.     In  the  i8th  year  of  his 
reign  the  corporation  of  Hull  received  its  present  form  of 
municipal  government ;  at  the  same  time  the  King  constituted 
the  town  with  its  precincts  a  coimty  of  itself.     By  another 
charter  of  the  same  year,  bearing  date  of  July  2d,  still  further 
privileges  and  dignities  were  granted  the  governing  bodies.^ 
The  favour  shown  Hull  by  the  Crown  may  have  been  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  powerful  Duke  of  Suffolk.    In  September, 
1454,  the  year  before  the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities,  Henry 
VI  was  ''most  joyfully  and  royally  received  and  entertained 
with  all  the  satisfaction,  splendour  and  demonstration  of  that 
hearty  loyahy"  of  which  the  townsfolk  were  capable,^  though 
of  itself  this  proves  nothing  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  town. 
In  1460  the  whole  town  was  put  in  a  posture  of  defence  by 
Richard   Hanson,   the   loyalist   mayor.      He    formed   two   or 
three  strong  troops  of  the  best  men  of  the  town  and  country 
and  joined  the  Queen  before  she  reached  Sandal  castle.     In 
the  battle  of  Wakefield-green,  the  brave  mayor  of  Hull,  after 
having  distinguished  himself  by  his  intrepidity  and  valour,  fell 

1  Merewether  and  Stephens,  Boroughs,  II,  861,  869. 

2  Ms.  British  Museum,  Lansd.,  890. 

36 


«  <t 


-% 


covered  with  wounds  in  the  moment  in  which  victory  was 
declaring  itself  for  his  party.^  At  the  battle  of  Towton,  the 
blood  of  the  men  of  Hull  in  all  probability  flowed  freely  on 
Henry's  side.  Nor  did  the  townsmen  neglect  any  opportunity 
after  this  defeat  of  their  royal  master  of  promoting  Henry's 
cause.  In  1464  after  the  capture  of  Bamborough  castle  by 
the  Yorkists,  Henry  VI  marched  towards  Hull,  expecting  no 
doubt  to  secure  the  town  to  his  interests.  But  Edward  was 
too  quick  for  him,  and,  coming  unexpectedly  to  Barton  upon 
Humber,  he  entered  Hull  ''which  was  mightily  inclined  to  King 
Henry,"  thus  preventing  the  latter  from  reaping  the  fruits  he 
might  otherwise  have  expected  from  the  gratitude  of  the  in- 
habitants. These  Edward  is  said  to  have  summoned  to  attend 
him  at  York,  having  put  a  strong  garrison  in  the  place,  since 
he  knew  how  favourably  inclined  the  townsmen  were  to  the 
cause  of  his  rival*  "But  what  could  any  people  do,  when  two 
kings  reigned  in  one  kingdom?"  There  is  no  record  of  any 
manifestation  of  joy  at  Edward's  visit,  for  the  townsmen  seem 
to  have  continued  firm  in  their  aflFection  for  Henry.  As  a 
result  partly  of  the  expenses  incurred  in  his  behalf,  the  town 
found  itself  encumbered  with  a  heavy  debt.  To  liquidate  it,  the 
market  cross,  a  large  and  stately  structure,  was  pulled  down,  and 
a  vast  amount  of  lead,  with  which  it  was  covered,  was  sold  by 
weight  and  paid  for  in  specie.  The  building  had  been  founded 
by  a  former  mayor,  Robert  Holm,  who  also  provided  the  lead.' 
In  1470  Henry  VI  was  restored  to  the  "incredible  joy  of  this 
town,  which  was  a  constant  lover  of  King  Henry."  But  the 
season  of  joy  was  brief,  for  the  very  next  year  Edward  landed 
at  Ravenspur. 

The  citizens  of  Hull  furnish  a  striking  exception  to  the  as- 
sertions generally  made  by  writers  that  the  Wars  of  the  Roses 
fail  to  afiford  an  illustration  of  townsmen  being  actuated  by 
any  principle  of  loyalty  in  their  adherence  to  one  side  or  the 
other.  Aware  of  Hull's  partiality  for  Lancaster,  Edward  pro- 
ceeded to  the  eastward  in  his  march  upon  Beverley,  taking  no 
chances  of  being  refused  admittance  into  the  town,  for  he 
found  "all  this  part  of  the  country  very  much  averse  to  his  title, 
and  perfectly  easy  under  Henry's  government."''     Warwick  is 

3  Ihid, 
*  Ihid. 
5  Ibid. 
« Ibid. 


i 


said  to  have  sent  strict  orders  to  Hull  not  to  admit  Edward 
upon  anv  pretext  whatever ;  the  result  was  that  Edward,  know- 
ing the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  determination 
to  defend  the  town  against  him,  made  no  attempt  upon  the 
place.    From  the  foregoing  it  is  evident  that  the  men  of  Hull 
were   deeply   concerned  in   the   fortunes   of   the   Lancastrian 
monarchv.     Grateful  for  the  favours  accorded  their  town  by 
the  Crown,  the  inhabitants  never  wavered  in  their  loyalty  to 
Henry,  but  ungrudgingly  gave  their  blood  and  treasure  in  his 
behalf.    Nor  is  there  any  evidence  whatever  that  a  rival  party 
existed  in  the  town ;  on  the  contrary,  the  governing  authorities 
and  the  townsmen  seem  to  have  been  a  unit  in  their  opposition 
to  the  house  of  York.    In  these  times  when  self-seeking,  heart- 
lessness,  and  treachery  were  the  qualities  which  shone  so  con- 
spicuously among  the  rival  leaders,  it  is  refreshing  to  find  the 
citizens  of  this  northern  town  actuated  so  largely  by  a  senti- 
ment of  loyalty  and  patriotism. 

The  town  of  Gloucester  lay  in  a  region  which,  on  the  whole, 
was  well  affected  to  the  Yorkist  cause.     With  one  exception, 
however,  the  place  does  not  seem  to  have  been  concerned  in 
the  factional  strife  of  the  times.    This  was  in  1471  when  the 
Lancastrians  under  Margaret   were   planning  to   march   into 
Wales;  but  she  learned  "that  the  towne  of  Gloucester  was 
firme  and   fast  to  duke  Richerd,   King  Edward's  brother."^ 
For  the  place  was  held  by  Richard  Beauchamp,  the  governor, 
secure  in  the  interests  of  the  King.     She  was  thus  forced  to 
march  to  Tewkesbury,  though  there  were  those  in  the  town 
that  could  have  been  well  contented  that  the  Queen  should  have 
been  received.^    The  *'quene,  and  the  lords  with  her,  had  good 
intelligence  with  diverse  in  the  towne,  so  as  they  were  put  in 
great  hope  to  have  entred  the  same ;  whereupon  they  travelled 
their  people  right  sore  all  that  night  and  morning,   coming 
before  the  towne  of  Gloucester  upon  the  Fridaie  about  ten  of 
the  clocke.     And  when  they  perceived  that  they  were  disap- 
pointed of   their  purpose,   they   were   highlie   therewith   dis- 
pleased; for  they  knew  verie  well,  that   diverse  within   the 
towne  bore  their  good  willes  towards  them."^    So  ended  the  at- 
tempt of  Margaret  before  Gloucester.    Had  she  been  enabled 

7  Polydore  Vergil,  p.  151. 

»Arrivall  of  King  Edward  IV,  p.  27. 

9  Quoted  by  Fosbrooke,  History  of  Gloucester,  pp.  45,  46. 

38 


,<*- 


t  ^ 


•\ 


A 


to  gain  admission  into  the  town,  it  might  have  been  used  as  a 
base  for  procuring  recruits  from  Cheshire  and  Lancashire. 

Though  the  southwestern  counties  did  not  witness  much  of 
the  military  action  of  the  time,  bearing  quietly  their  share  of  the 
common  burden,  yet  the  extreme  west  and  north  are  the  two 
regions  which  have  been  commonly  represented  as  the  mainstay 
of  the  cause  of  Margaret  and  her  husband.^^    A  majority  of 
the  landholders  in  Somerset,  Cornwall,  and  Devon  were  ad- 
herents of  the  Red  Rose  faction  though  even  in  this  region 
the   Yorkist   cause   was   not    destitute    of    supporters.      The 
Courtenays,  staunch  Lancastrians,  possessed  extensive  estates 
in  Devon  and  Cornwall,  "districts  presumably  primitive  and 
ignorant."    The  Beauforts  could  always  count  upon  a  follow- 
ing in  this  section  of  the  country.    According  to  one  account, 
''the  heart  both  of  city  and  shire  of  Devon  was  on  the  Lan- 
castrian side,  but  the  wise  men  of  Exeter  always  knew  how 
to  stand  well  with  the  powers  that  were."^^     Another  writer 
affirms  that  *'no  city  gave  stronger  proofs  of  attachment  to  his 
(i.e.  Henry's)  cause  than  Exeter";^-  but  this  statement  is  not 
justified  by  what  we  know  of  the  histor>^  of  Exeter  during  this 
period,  and  it  overlooks  the  important  services  rendered  the 
Lancastrian  cause  by  such  places  as  Coventry  and  Hull.     In- 
deed at  a  later  period  the  citizens  seem  to  have  been  divided 
in  their  attachment  to  the  two  claimants  of  the  Crown.     On 
the  whole,  however,  it  is  fair  to  say,  the  men  of  Exeter  evinced 
a  greater  partiality  for  the  cause  of  Henry  than  for  that  of 

Edward. 

In  145 1  Henry  VI  had  spent  eight  days  among  the  townsmen 
renewing  their  charters.  Four  years  later,  however,  the  city 
received  Lord  W^illiam  Bonville,  to  which  no  significance 
would  be  attached  but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  the  antagonist 
of  Thomas  Courtenay,  Earl  of  Devon,  between  whom  and  the 
citizens  of  Exeter  no  love  was  lost.  ''And  the  civil  war  be- 
tween the  houses  did  then  begin  to  break  out,  and  no  wonder 
the  city  of  Exeter  opened  its  gates  to  the  Lord  Bonville,  for 
the  Duke  of  York  had  at  that  time  all  the  power  in  his  hands, 
and  no  doubt  the  city  favoured  those  of  the  prevailing  side.^» 

10  Cf.  Stubbs,  Const.  Hist.,  Ill,  186. 

11  Freeman,  Exeter,  p.  191. 

12  Oliver,  History  of  the  City  of  Exeter,  p.  68.  ,     ^    , 

13  Quoted  by  Rogers,  Strife  of  the  Roses  in  the  Days  of  the  Tudors, 

p.  49. 

39 


I 


This,  however,  is  mere  conjecture  for  there  is  nothing  to  in- 
dicate the  preference  of  the  citizens  of  Exeter  for  the  White 
Rose,  unless  their  hostility  to  their  former  lords,  the  Earls  of 
Devon,  would  lead  them  to  espouse  the  cause  of  York.  More  to 
the  point  is  the  fact  that  in  1460  the  inhabitants  cheerfully 
raised  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Queen  a  large  sum  of  money 
by  voluntary  contribution,  and  levied  31  soldiers  for  her  use. 
These  they  armed  and  maintained  at  their  own  expense,  and 
sent  them,  with  the  money,  to  the  Queen's  army,  accompanied 
by  a  messenger  to  assure  her  of  their  steadfast  loyalty  to  the 
King  and  their  readiness  to  assist  him  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power.^*  The  leanings  of  the  city  of  Exeter  towards  Henry 
were  not  unknown  to  Edward.  In  1461  and  1466  he  granted 
charters  to  the  Tailor's  Company,  possibly  thus  endeavouring 
to  win  the  good  will  of  the  trading  classes  that  had  no  share 
in  the  town  governments^  In  1463  Edward  granted  the  city 
fresh  franchises  and  powers.  On  Saturday,  the  14th  of  April, 
1470,  the  city  was  visited  by  Edward,  who  was  hot  in  pursuit 
of  Clarence  and  Warwick ;  he  refrained,  we  are  told,  from  mak- 
ing manifest  his  anger  at  the  citizens'  behaviour.  This  did 
not  prevent  the  mayor  and  citizens  from  filing  out  of  the  city 
to  Liverydole  to  meet  the  King.  At  East  Gate  the  mayor 
handed  the  King  the  keys  and  maces ;  and  at  the  Guildhall  he 
was  presented  with  a  purse  of  100  nobles  in  gold,  which,  it  is 
needless  to  add,  Edward  did  not  refuse.  More  than  once  the 
city  of  Exeter  was  used  by  the  Lancastrian  party  as  the  base 
of  operations.  In  1470  the  city  received  within  its  walls  sev- 
eral of  the  leaders  of  that  party,  fleeing  before  Edward.  The 
following  year  Margaret  after  landing  upon  the  southwest 
coast  marched  to  Exeter.  Here  she  was  joined  by  the  Duke 
of  Somerset  and  the  Earl  of  Devon  who  set  up  the  standard 
of  King  Henry.  Sir  Hugh  Courtenay  of  Powderham,  Sir 
John  Arundel  with  the  principal  men  of  Devon  and  Cornwall 
joined  them  with  almost  the  whole  power  of  the  two  coun- 
ties." The  Earl  and  the  Duke  **sent  alabout  in  Somarsetshire, 
Dorsetshire,  and  a  part  of  Wiltshire,  to  arays  the  people  by  a 
certain  day.  And  for  that  they  would  gather  and  arays  up  the 
power  of  Devonshire  and  Cornewaile,  they  drew  from  thence 

1*  Jenkins,  History  and  Description  of  the  City  of  Exeter,  p.  79. 
15  Gross,  Gild  Merchant,  I,  124,  note  2. 
^^  Arrival  I  of  King  Edward  IV,  p.  23. 

40 


.r  • 


-A 


more  westward  to  the  Citie  of  Excestar,"  .  .  .  gathering  "the 
hable  men  of  those  parts."  Naturally  such  proceedings  drew 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Exeter  the  ill  will  of  Edward.  'The 
King  having  gotten  the  victory  over  all  his  enemies  bethinck- 
eth  hymself  nowe  upon  suche  as  were  adversaries  or  had  suc- 
cored and  taken  pte  with  theym  and  being  advertyzed  both  of 
succors  and  monyes  geven  and  contributed  unto  them  out  of 
this  citie  waxed  very  angrye,  and  was  of  the  mynde  to  have 
benne  revenged  thereof  untill  he  was  advertyzed  and  pacy- 
fied."^^  From  the  foregoing  account  it  is  tolerably  clear  that 
the  town  of  Exeter  favoured  the  cause  of  Henry,  nor  is  there 
any  reason  for  believing  that  such  assistance  as  was  rendered 
the  Lancastrian  faction  was  not  on  the  whole  a  matter  of 
their  own  free  choice.  This  was  no  doubt  true  both  of  the 
governing  officials  and  of  the  townsmen  as  a  whole.  Situated 
in  a  region  which  contained  may  adherents  of  the  Red  Rose 
faction,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  chief 
city  of  these  parts  should  have  espoused  the  Lancastrian  cause. 
On  the  whole  the  county  of  Nottinghamshire  is  said  to  have 
favoured  the  Yorkists,  though  many  of  the  county  nobles  were 
Lancastrian.  Prominent  among  these  were  Thomas,  Lord 
Ross,  the  lord  of  Orston,  and  Sir  Gervase  Clifton,  both  of 
whom  paid  with  their  lives  for  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
Henry.  Nottingham  occupied  a  strategic  position ;  its  castle 
was  a  station  of  the  highest  importance  from  a  military  stand- 
point and  was  a  frequent  rendezvous  of  Edward  IV.  Here  he 
first  rallied  his  forces,  holding  a  court,  it  is  said,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  aflFording  an  opportunity  to  the  nobility  and  gentle- 
men of  the  district  to  render  him  their  honour  and  support.^® 
In  spite  of  this,  however,  we  are  informed  that  the  town  of 
Nottingham  sided  with  Henry  VI  at  first.  "They  stood  by 
him  so  long  as  the  triumph  of  the  rebels  was  doubtful,  but  no 
sooner  were  the  fortunes  of  Edward  the  Fourth  in  the  ascendant 
than  by  gifts  out  of  their  treasure  and  little  detachments  of 
their  militia  they  testified  to  a  new  loyalty,  and  thus  obtained 
the  renewal  of  their  charter  and  a  reduction  of  their  ferm 
for  twenty  years,  *to  have  a  reward  to  the  town  of  Notting« 
ham  for  the  great  cost  and  burdens,  and  loss  of  their  goods 

1^  Cotton  and  Woolcombe,  Gleanings  from  the  Records  of  the  City  of 
Exeter,  pp.  17,  18. 
18  Bailey,  Annals  of  Nottinghamshire,  I,  328-332. 

41 


that  they  have  sustained  by  reason  of  those  services/  "'"    The 
date  o£  the  renewal  of  the  charter  is  1462.    A  contingent  from 
Nottingham  under  their  banner  ^'the  George,"  had  fought  in 
the  Yorkist  ranks  at  Towton.^^    In  1464  the  townsmen  ordered 
off  a  little  troop  in  red  jackets  with  white  letters  sewn  on 
them  to  join  the  King  at  York.     "The  Coste  of  Makyng  of 
Jackettes  to  S(au)deours  ridying  to  the  Kyng  to  Yorke,"  is 
one  of  the  entries  which  occurs  in  the  town  records.     Also 
the  following  one:  "Item  paied  for  IX.  yerdes  of  rede  clothe 
to  make  jackettes  of  the  saudeurs ;  price  of  a  y  (er)de,  IXd-56s 
3d."-^    In  the  fall  of  1470  when  Edward  heard  of  the  landing 
of  Warwick,  he  hastened  with  his  followers  to  Nottingham, 
according  to  one  account,  to  collect  what  forces  he  could.    When 
Edward  landed  in  1471,  he  refrained  from  proclaiming  himself 
King  till  he  had  reached  his  old  haunt  of  Nottingham  Castle. 
Collecting  all  the  forces  possible  he  marched  out  of  the  town 
"amidst  the   cheers   of  the  assembled   populace."     Nor   was 
this  all;  for  the  townsmen  are  recorded  to  have  spent  some 
i6o  for  "loans  for  soldiers"  and  Hveries,  besides  many  other 
costs."    Whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  that  lay  behind 
the  support  rendered  Edward  by  the  men  of  Nottingham,  the 
fact  remains  that  they  rendered  his  cause  effective  aid.     As 
noted  above,  we  are  told  the  burghers  "stood  by  Henry  the 
Sixth,"  until  supplanted  by  his  rival;  but  there  is  no  record 
of  any  material  help  afforded  the  Lancastrian  King.     If  the 
preferences  of  the  men  of  Nottingham  were  for  the  Lancas- 
trian dynasty,  they  failed  to  give  any  effective  demonstrations 
of  loyalty.    The  mere  presence  of  Edward  and  the  desire  to 
merit  his  favour  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  to  induce  the 
townsmen  to  support  the  party  that  happened  for  the  time 
being  to  be  in  the  ascendant.     But  the   assertion   that  this 
Vicar  of  Bray-like  attitude  is  just  what  every  other  town  in 
England  did  throughout  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  too  sweeping  a  statement  and  is  not  warranted  by  what 
we  know  of  the  attitude  of  some  of  the  boroughs  during  the 
period  of  civil  strife.    And  even  in  the  case  of  Nottingham, 
it  seems  not  a  little  curious  that,  in  spite  of  the  weather-vane 

^^  Nottingham  Records,  III,  414,  416.    Cf.  Green,  Toum  Life,  II,  330. 
^^  Archaeologia,  XXIX,  346. 

21  Nottingham  Records,  II,  377- 

22  Ibid, 

42 


r  « 


«   V 


^ 


attitude  attributed  to  the  townsmen,  we  find  them  invariably 
siding  with  the  Yorkists. 

As  was  the  case  with  most  of  the  counties  of  England, 
Leicestershire  was  divided  in  its  allegiance  between  the  two 
rival  parties.     The  capital  of  the  county  has  been  referred  to 
as  "a  famous  Lancastrian   fortress,"  though  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  infer  from  this  that  the  men  of   Leicestershire 
were  staunch  adherents  of  the  house  of  Lancaster.    It  is  true 
a  faction  seems  to  have  favoured  the  Red  Rose."     In  1450 
Parliament  was  adjourned  to  Leicester,  and  nine  years  later 
Henry  summoned  his  nobility  and  gentry  to  meet  him  there.^* 
But  Leicester  was  situated  in  that  region  of  England, — the 
Midlands — in  which  it  has  been  represented  by  some  writers 
that  the  majority  of  the  citizens  and  freeholders  were  ardent 
Yorkists, — by  others,  and  this  is  more  probable,  that  the  two 
parties  were  fairly  balanced — though  a  different  impression 
might  be  obtained  from  the  coloured  maps  in  certain  secondary 
authorities  which  so  nicely  parcel  off  the  realm  of  England 
between   the  two  rival   factions.^^     The   impression   derived 
from  most  writers  that  the  towns  were  slightly  affected  by 
the  strife  between  the  Lancastrian  and  Yorkist  leaders  and 
their  retainers  seems  to  find  another  exception  in  the  case  of 
Leicester.     Equally  exaggerated  is  the  assertion  that  during 
the  bloody  civil  commotions  of  the  period,  Leicester  and  many 
other  places  were  drained  of  their  young  men  to  serve  in  the 
wars.    Be  that  as  it  may,  there  is  no  lack  of  evidence  to  show 
that  Leicester  was  deeply  concerned  in  the  politics  of  the  time. 
At  the  very  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Edward  IV,  the 
mayor  and  burgesses  are  found  exerting  themselves  in  behalf 
of  the  Yorkist  cause ;  and  that  too  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we 
are  assured  the  house  of  Lancaster's  protection  had  been  af- 
forded the  people  of  Leicester  for  a  long  time,  though  the 
townsmen   now    found   it   convenient   to    forget    the   benefits 
which  the  town  is  said  to  have  derived  from  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Lancastrian  family.     The  earls  and  dukes  of 
that  family  had  moreover  been  frequent  visitors  at  the  castle, 
and  had  furthermore  given  evidence  of  their  good  will  for 
the  townsmen  by  numerous  awards  of  lands  and  privileges. 

23  Cf .  Thompson,  History  of  Leicester,  pp.  182,  188. 
2*  Chronicles  of  the  White  Rose,  Introd.,.  pp.  xxiii,  Ixviii. 
25  An  exception  should  be  made  of  the  map  to  be  found  in  Vickers, 
England  in  the  Later  Middle  Ages. 

43 


^fz 


At  this  time  the  corporation  is  said  to  have  held  the  baiUwick 
of  the  town  under  a  lease  from  Queen  Margaret.  But  as 
indicated  above,  not  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  borough  were 
guilty  of  such  ingratitude.  The  Lancastrian  cause  had  its  par- 
tisans in  the  borough,  who  showed  so  little  policy  as  to  refuse 
to  attend  the  musters  of  the  Yorkist  mayor ;  they  even  went 
so  far  as  to  entrench  themselves  in  their  houses  and  to  bar 
the  doors  rather  than  ''ride  against"  the  new  King,  ''the  dire 
foe  of  the  ancient  and  pwDpular  house  of  Lancaster."  So  it 
was  in  vain  that  the  mayor  strove  to  compel  all  the  inhabitants 
to  attend  the  Common  Hall  and  fall  into  his  gathering.^^ 
From  this  it  appears  that  the  men  of  Leicester  had  not  acquired 
the  policy  of  double-dealing  in  which  the  burghers  of  the  period 
are  said  to  have  been  so  proficient,  otherwise  we  should  hardly 
find  a  faction  in  the  town  continuing  to  adhere  to  Henry  when 
so  much  pressure  was  being  brought  to  bear  uoon  his  partisans 
to  forsake  his  cause.  Among  the  motives  which  no  doubt 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  explaining  the  partiality  of  the 
townsmen  for  Edward  is  the  local  influence  and  authority 
exerted  by  Sir  William  Hastings.  The  men  who  were  brought 
together  in  1470  by  Lord  Hastings  at  Leicester  were  largely 
composed,  it  seems,  of  his  immediate  dependents  and  friends 
living  in  the  county.^^ 

Edward  on  his  part  was  not  slow  to  recognize  and  reward 
the  allegiance  of  the  burgesses.  In  1462  the  Yorkist  King 
was  a  visitor  at  the  castle;  his  coming,  it  may  be  presumed, 
was  due  to  his  desire  to  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  inhab- 
itants. On  May  15th  of  this  year  at  the  instance  of  Robert 
Rawlett,  the  mayor,  and  Thomas  Green  and  John  Roberds, 
the  two  parliamentary  representatives  of  the  borough,  Edward 
granted  the  inhabitants  20  marks  yearly  for  twenty  years  from 
the  previous  Michaelmas.  What  is  more  to  the  point,  the 
grant  was  made  "in  consideration  of  the  good  and  faithful  and 
unpaid  services  which  the  mayor  and  burgesses  of  our  town 
of  Leicester  have  cheerfully  rendered  of  late  in  our  behalf 
against  our  enemies  hostilely  raising  war  against  us,  as  also  of 
the  heav7  burdens  of  their  no  small  losses  incurred  touching 
such  business  of  ours."^®     In  a  word,  the  grant  is   for  the 

2«  Cf.  Thompson,  History  of  Leicester,  p.  188. 

27  Ibid.,  p.   194. 

28  Bateson,  Records  of  the  Borough  of  Leicester,  i,  Pt.  II,  273- 

44 


r  ^ 


*  ^ 


1 


services  which  the  men  of  Leicester  rendered   Edward   IV 
against  his  enemies.    Two  years  later  in  an  act  of  resumption 
of  grants,  there  was  a  clause  for  saving  the  grant  of  20  marks 
to  the  town  of  Leicester.     The  borough  continued  to  be  the 
recipient  of  the  marks  of  Edward's  favour.    A  charter  bearing 
date  of  April  2,  1463,  granted  the  corporation  the  license  of 
holding  an  annual  fair  in  the  month  of  May.     The  fair  was 
to  be  held  three  days  before  and  three  days  after  the  feast  of 
St.  Philip  and  of  St.  James  yearly  forever ;  the  profits,  govern- 
ment, and  liberties  appertaining  to  the  same  fair  were  to  belong 
to  the  mayor  and  corporation.^®     In  the  summer  of   1464  a 
further  important   grant   testified   to   the    favour   entertained 
for  the  burgesses  of  Leicester  by  Edward.     The  mayor  and 
"four  of  the  discreetest  burgesses"  were  made  justices  to  keep 
the  statutes  of  servants,  artificers,  and  labourers ;  the  town  was 
to  be  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  county  justices; 
provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  the  magistrates,  and 
for  a  recorder,  who  were  to  wield  extensive  powers.^®    Finally 
on   January  4,    1472,   another   grant   was  made  of   £20   per 
annum  for  twenty  years  to  the  mayor  and  burgesses,  for  serv- 
ices done  against  his  enemies  and  in  consideration  of  their 
great  costs ;  this  was  to  be  paid  out  of  the  profits  of  the  honour 
of   Leicester,   unless   within   that   time   lands   and   tenements 
would  be  given  them  to  that  value.^^    From  this  array  of  royal 
grants  it  is  evident  that  the  people  of   Leicester  had  given 
evidence  of  hearty  fealty  to  the  house  of  York.     They  had 
certainly  fought  for  the  White  Rose  at  Towton,  for  among 
the    standards    unfurled    on    that    field    was    the    banner    of 
Leicester,  "The  Griflfon  cam  fro  Leycestre,  fleyng  in  as  tyte 
(quickly). ''^2  When  Edward  returned  in  1470  for  the  purpose 
of  recovering  his  throne,  the  chronicler  says,  "wherefore  fro 
Notyngham,  the  Kynge  toke  the  streyght  way  towards  hym, 
by  Leicestre."     "At   Leycestar  came  to  the   Kynge   ryght-a- 
fayre  felawshipe  of  folks,  to  the  nombar  of  iijM  men,  well 
habyled  for  the  wars,  such  as  were  veryly  to  be  trusted,  as 
thos  that  wowlde  uttarly  imparte  with  hym  at  beste  and  worste 

29  Nichols,   History   and   Antiquities  of   the   County   of  Leicester,   I, 
Pt.  II.  376;     Thomp'son,  History  of  Leicester,  p.  194. 

30  Cf.  Nichols,  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Leicester,  1, 

Pt.  II.  375.  "  ,    . 

31  Kelly,  Royal  Progresses  and  Visits  to  Leicester,  pp.  222-224. 

32  Archaeologia,  XXIX,  346. 

45 


in  his  qwarell,  withe  all  theyr  force  and  myght  to  do  hym 
their  trew  service.  And  so,  better  accompanyed  than  he  had 
bene  at  any  time  aforme,  he  departed  from  Leycestar."^^  This 
was  the  force  for  which  Edward  was  indebted  to  Lord 
Hastings,  whose  messenger  had  raised  the  country  round 
about.  The  town  of  Leicester  thus  affords  a  clean-cut  instance 
of  the  attitude  of  a  borough  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  It 
furnishes  moreover  a  striking  exception  to  the  statements  of 
those  writers  who  have  generally  characterized  the  attitude  of 
the  boroughs  as  stamped  with  indifference  to  the  politics  of  the 
time,  or  else  marked  by  a  reprehensible  policy  of  double- 
dealing. 

Worcestershire  was  probably  Yorkist  on  the  whole.  The 
Earl  of  Warwick's  influence  in  this  district  would  tell  in 
favour  of  Edward.  The  extensive  Mortimer  influence  must 
also  be  taken  into  account.  On  the  marches  Edward  was 
stronger  than  his  rival.^*  So  far  as  the  city  of  Worcester  itself 
is  concerned,  how^ever,  there  is  no  indication  that  the  town 
was  actively  concerned  in  the  civil  broils  of  the  time  beyond 
the  fact  that  we  know  the  men  of  Worcester  were  represented 
at  Towton  under  their  banner,  "the  Wolf."'"  In  the  absence 
of  evidence  to  the  contrary  we  may  infer,  therefore,  the  town 
was  Yorkist  in  its  sympathies.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Here- 
ford is  situated  in  a  region  which  has  been  generally  repre- 
sented as  Yorkist  in  its  leanings,  it  would  seem  that  the  shire 
was  divided  in  its  allegiance,  some  writers  even  asserting 
that  the  Lancastrian  interest  was  predominant.  In  1457  the 
burgesses  and  gentlemen  about  Hereford  professed  themselves 
ready  to  take  the  King's  part.^^  Sir  John  Skydmore  was  a 
consistent  Lancastrian.  On  the  other  hand  the  possessions  and 
influence  of  the  Mortimers  would  certainly  inspire  a  consider- 
able sentiment  in  favour  of  the  house  of  York;  moreover 
Richard,  Duke  of  York,  held  extensive  possessions  in  Here- 
fordshire while  the  same  party  had  a  powerful  supporter  in 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  of  Raglan  Castle,  and  in  Sir  Walter 
Devereux,  whose  estates  were  confiscated  at  the  Parliament 

^^  Arrivall  of  King  Edward  IV,  pp.  8-9. 

3*Cf.  Evans,  Wales  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  p.  89. 

^^  Archaeologia,  XXIX,  346. 

3«  Paston  Letters,  I,  4i7- 


( 


iT    * 


«    5» 


i 


held  at  Coventry."  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  victors  at 
Northampton  had  on  their  arrival  in  London  procured  from 
the  Duke  of  York  "dyvers  straunge  commissions  fro  the  Kyng 
for  to  sitte  in  dyvers  townys  comyng  homward,"  among  others 
in  Hereford,  ''to  punysh  them  by  the  fawtes  to  the  Kyngs 
lawys."^®  In  view  of  these  considerations  no  positive  state- 
ments can  be  made  touching  the  attitude  of  Hereford.  It 
belongs  in  that  class  of  towns  whose  activities  in  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses  were  almost  negligible.  In  1451-52,  as  noted  above, 
the  Duke  of  York  wrote  to  the  bailiffs  of  Shrewsbury  from 
his  castle  at  Ludlow  to  supply  him  with  a  body  of  men,  which 
being  done,  the  Duke  marched  to  Blackheath.^^  The  Duke 
is  said  to  have  shown  this  town  much  favour.  From  the 
bailiffs'  accounts  it  appears  he  visited  the  capital  of  Shrop- 
shire in  1446,  and  again  in  1449-50;  a  pipe  of  red  wine  was 
given  him  upon  his  coming  to  the  town  from  Ireland,  and 
players  and  minstrels  were  employed  on  this  occasion;  in  1451 
a  similar  present  was  made  on  his  coming  for  the  sessions  in 
July.  In  this  year  he  sends  venison,  and  24s  are  spent  by  the 
bailiffs  and  other  worthy  men  of  the  town  in  providing  a 
suitable  repast.*®  The  friendship  entertained  for  the  Duke 
of  York  by  the  burghers  of  Shrewsbury  was  felt  likewise  for 
his  son  Edward.  In  1458-59  wine  was  given  to  various  knights, 
esquires,  and  gentlemen  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  his  son,  the 
Earl  of  March.  Expenses  were  incurred  by  reason  of  two 
citizens  riding  to  Nottingham  to  speak  with  the  King,  who 
had  written  to  the  town  authorities.  On  another  occasion  the 
sum  of  6s  8d  was  expended  for  a  similar  purpose. 

In  1460  there  is  an  entry  recording  the  expending  of  £8, 
13s.  4d.  in  connection  with  61  men  proceeding  in  the  service 
of  the  lord  King  to  Northampton.  At  the  command  of  the 
King  soldiers  were  sent  with  the  Earl  of  Worcester  to  the 
castle  of  Denbigh  at  a  cost  of  79s.  2d.  On  another  occasion 
the  sum  of  £18  was  laid  out  for  a  similar  purpose,  forty  soldiers 
going  to  the  castle  of  Harelagh.  Nine  years  later  when  the 
times  were  more  uncertain  a  messenger  was  sent  all  the  way 
to  York  at  a  charge  of  los.  to  learn  the  rumours  in  regard 

37  For  the  influence  exerted  by  Sir  William  Herbert,  cf.  Evans,  Wales 
and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  p.  159- 
^»  Paston  Letters,  I,  525. 
39  Above,  p.  4. 
*^  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  XV,  App.  x,  29. 

47 


to  Edward.*^  It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  the  town 
authorities  of  Shrewsbury  felt  a  keen  interest  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  Yorkist  chief  and  testified  to  their  loyalty  in  deeds  as 
well  as  in  words. 

If  Shrewsbury  was  loyal  to  the  cause  of  the  White  Rose, 
just  the  reverse  was  true  in  the  case  of  Winchester.  But  the 
ancient  capital  of  the  kingdom  was  no  longer  able  to  support 
effectively  the  partisans  of  either  the  White  or  the  Red  Rose, 
for  decay  and  desolation  had  settled  down  upon  the  city.  It 
is  beyond  question  that  *Mn  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  the  Win- 
chester people  had  neither  energy  nor  power  to  play  any  im- 
portant part."  A  petition  to  Henry  VI  several  years  before 
the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities  recites  the  fact  that  997  houses 
wont  to  be  occupied  were  void,  and  that  17  parish  churches 
were  shut  up.  The  citizens,  mayor,  and  commonalty  prayed 
the  King  to  grant  unto  them  40  marks  of  the  aulnage  of  sub- 
sidy of  woolen  cloths  sold  within  the  city  and  suburbs;  for 
''the  desolation  of  the  poor  city  was  so  great  and  there  is  such 
decay  that  without  the  gracious  comfort  of  the  King,  the 
mayor  and  bailiffs  must  deliver  up  the  city  and  keys  into  the 
King's  hand."  Henry  did  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  their  prayer, 
but  granted  the  40  marks  for  fifty  years  from  the  first  of 
Michaelmas  in  the  28th  year  of  his  reign."*-  The  citizens  of 
Winchester  were  no  doubt  influenced  in  adhering  to  the  cause 
of  the  Red  Rose  largely  through  the  efforts  of  their  bishop, 
William  Waynflete,  who  was  chancellor  during  the  years  1449- 
1459,  and  who  was  at  all  times  a  zealous  Lancastrian.  At 
his  instance,  the  citizens  refused  to  proclaim  or  acknowledge 
Edward  IV  as  their  sovereign,  declaring  at  the  same  time  their 
resolution  of  supporting  the  cause  of  the  dethroned  King.*^ 
For  this  the  bishop  and  citizens  are  said  to  have  been  sen- 
tenced to  a  severe  chastisement.  On  the  final  overthrow  of 
King  Henry,  however,  Edward  granted  the  city  a  special 
pardon.^*  Though  powerless  to  render  the  cause  of  Henry  ef- 
fective support  in  a  material  way,  and  situated  in  a  region 
which  is  generally  reputed  as  Yorkist  in  its  leanings,  neverthe- 
less, so  far  as  we  know,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  kingdom 

*i  Ibid,  XV,  App.  X,  30.    Cf.  Owen  and  Blakeway,  History  of  Shrews- 
bury, I,  224,  227. 
*-  Ms.  British  Museum.  Addit.,  5830. 

*^Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  VI,  147.    Cf.  Green,  Towfi  Life,  I,  326. 
**  Kitchin,  IVinchestcr,  p.  147. 

48 


#  ft 


«    ^ 


>^ 


remained  loyal,  and  that,  too,  in  the  face  of  incurring  the 
wrath  of  Edward  for  so  doing.  Its  attitude  therefore  affords 
another  exception  to  the  view  that  the  towns  in  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses  never  acted  from  motives  of  sentiment,  but  were 
actuated  solely  by  selfish  considerations. 

Without  exception,  the  county  of  Kent  has  been  represented 
as  ardently  Yorkist  in  its  sympathies.  Some  of  the  considera- 
tions which  must  be  taken  into  account  in  explaining  why 
Kent,  in  common  with  the  southeastern  part  of  the  realm,  was 
led  to  adopt  an  attitude  of  hostility  toward  the  Lancastrian 
party  may  be  conveniently  dealt  with  in  another  connection ; 
for  the  present  we  are  called  upon  to  notice  only  the  attitude 
of  Kent.  The  county  in  this  respect  seems  to  constitute  an 
exception  to  the  statement  of  Stubbs  that  in  most  of  the 
counties  the  two  parties  were  pretty  evenly  balanced.*^  As 
early  as  1452  the  men  of  Kent  had  suffered  for  the  favour 
shown  the  Duke  of  York,  28  being  hanged  and  beheaded  in 
that  year.*^  They  are  said  to  have  formed  the  bulk  of  the 
Yorkist  army  at  Northampton,  but  this  statement  rests  upon 
no  contemporary  evidence.  A  host  of  Kentish  men  joined 
the  Yorkist  lords  when  they  marched  upon  London  in  the 
spring  of  1460.*^  Warwick  was  very  popular  with  the  Kentish- 
men,  who  seem  to  have  felt  nothing  but  hatred  for  Margaret ; 
this  resentment  would  naturally  extend  to  the  cause  represented 
by  her.  By  some  this  resentment  has  been  attributed  to  the 
charge  that  Margaret  in  1457  incited  the  French  to  ravage 
the  Kentish  sea  coasts  for  her  own  private  purposes,  and  to  the 
anger  felt  at  the  loss  of  the  French  provinces.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  cause  of  the  Yorkists  was  ardently  espoused  by  the 
commons  of  Kent.  Nor  was  Edward  without  supporters  in 
the  city  of  Canterbury,  though  the  city  was  by  no  means 
whole-hearted  in  his  support;  for  among  the  citizens  was  an 
active  Lancastrian  faction.  From  the  town  records  it  appears 
that  the  townsmen  were  deep  in  the  politics  of  the  time.  Un- 
like the  citizens  of  Winchester  the  town  authorities  of  Canter- 
bury endeavoured  to  trim  their  sails  to  the  veering  currents 
of  the  time.    They  prudently  accepted  the  new  order  of  things 


*^  Const.  Hist,  III,  186. 
46  Wright,  History  of  Ludlozc,  p.  281. 
^"^  English   Chronicle    (ed.   Davies),   p.   86; 
p.  772. 

49 


William   of  Worcester, 


w 


in  1460,  but  still  maintained  a  connection  with  the  dethroned 
family  at  York.  Edward  visited  Canterbury  in  the  first  year 
of  his  reign,  upon  which  occasion  three  prominent  citizens 
advanced  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  expenses  of  his  enter- 
tainment. As  might  be  expected,  much  expense  was  incurred 
by  reason  of  presents  to  the  leading  personages  of  the  time, 
irrespective  of  their  party  affiliations.  There  were  gifts  of 
capons,  oxen,  sheep,  and  wine  to  the  two  brothers  of  the  then 
King;  horses,  bread,  and  choice  wines  were  presented  to  the 
Duchess  of  York;  from  the  variety  of  wines  mentioned  the 
vintners  evidently  plied  a  thriving  trade  during  the  period.  In 
1464-65  loans  aggregating  £20  were  repaid  for  sums  advanced 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  Queen  Margaret  a  silver-gilt  cup 
and  the  gift  of  a  sum  of  money.  Then,  of  course,  there  were 
payments  for  messengers  riding  to  London  and  elsewhere  to 
hear  the  rumours  and  for  having  the  good  will  of  this  or  that 
influential  person.  These  were  ticklish  times,  and  the  city 
fathers  evidently  had  much  difficulty  in  attempting  to  steer 
a  clear  course  between  the  rival  factions.*®  At  Towton  Can- 
terbury had  been  represented  by  a  contingent  under  the 
*'Harrow.''*^  The  citizens  naturally  desired  to  have  their 
charters  confirmed  by  the  new  government.  On  August  2, 
146 1,  the  King  ratified  the  former  charters  of  the  citizens 
and  confirmed  all  their  privileges ;  mention  is  made  of  "the 
faithfulness  and  laudable  services  of  the  citizens  to  the  King 
and  not  the  little  charges,  costs,  expenses,  labours,  jeopardies, 
and  hurts  of  our  said  mayor  and  citizens  exhibited."^^  Ed- 
ward's concern  for  the  commonalty,  however,  did  not  prevent 
his  exacting  a  considerable  sum  for  this  mark  of  his  favour. 
The  total  expense  incurred  in  connection  with  the  renovation 
of  the  charter  amounted  to  £25,  19s.  2d.  During  all  this  time 
a  powerful  Lancastrian  faction  seems  to  have  been  active  in 
the  city.  In  the  tr}'ing  years,  1469-70,  both  Lancastrians  and 
Yorkists  being  represented  among  the  town  officials,  it  seems 
to  have  been  decided  to  send  a  party  of  soldiers  into  Lincoln- 
shire to  help  Edward,  while  the  Lancastrian  mayor,  Nicholas 
Faunt,  repaired  to  the  court  of  Henry  in  London.  If  this 
was  the  case,  it  presents  one  of  the  few  instances  of  such  un- 

♦8  See  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  IX,  Pt.  I,  140. 

*^  Archaeologia,  XXIX.  346. 

^^  Charters  of  Canterbury  by  a  Citisen,  p.  50. 

50 


#>  * 


«    ^ 


. 


#  4. 


precedented  action  that  has  been  met  with.  During  the  years 
1470-71  there  were  contributions  to  Warwick  and  Lancaster, 
the  mayor  showing  great  activity  in  his  devotion  to  the  Red 
Rose  party.  Walter  Hopton,  an  innkeeper,  was  his  lieutenant 
in  command  of  the  Lancastrian  party ;  his  name  headed  the  list 
of  proscribed  rebels  when  Edward  had  recovered  his  throne, 
the  bailiflfs'  accounts  for  these  years  bear  witness  to  the  nu- 
merous expenditures  incurred  in  connection  with  the  equip- 
ment and  movement  of  soldiers,  the  sending  of  messengers 
to  various  points,  the  purchase  of  bread  and  wine  for  "honest" 
persons,  which  was  the  manner  in  which  the  adherents  of 
the  Red  Rose  faction  are  characterized.'^^ 

In  1471  Edward  visited  Canterbury  for  the  purpose  of  tak- 
ing vengeance  upon  those  citizens  who  had  taken  the  wrong 
side  in  the  late  troubles.  Nicholas  Faunt,  who  had  aided 
Falconbridge  in  his  attack  upon  London,  was  hanged.  When 
Faunt  was  arrested  after  the  disaster  of  Blackheath,  in  his 
pocket  was  found  a  list  of  the  loyal  Lancastrians  of  Canter- 
bury. This  incriminating  bit  of  evidence  was  sent  to  the 
city  by  a  well-wisher  of  the  citizens,  who  rewarded  with  los. 
the  servant  bringing  the  compromising  paper.  An  inquiry  set 
on  foot  at  Canterbury  revealed  the  fact  that  some  150  citizens, 
comprising  those  of  lower  social  position  as  well  as  a  number 
of  the  most  respectable  and  wealthy,  were  implicated  in  re- 
bellion against  the  King.  Edward  granted  a  pardon  to  Will 
Sellow,  a  member  of  the  corporation,  and  some  others  who 
had  been  in  arms  against  him,  but  the  more  prominent  rebels 
were  put  to  death  for  their  loyalty  to  the  losing  side.  In  1471- 
'/2,  the  sum  of  of  26s.  8d.  was  allowed  to  Will  Sellow  for 
riding  to  London  to  see  the  King  in  regard  to  the  restoration 
of  the  liberties  of  the  city.  For  the  charter  of  the  town  had 
been  suspended  by  Edward  and  was  ransomed  only  at  heavy 
cost  to  the  citizens ;  in  the  meanwhile  the  city  had  been  ruled 
by  Captain  Brimstone  "by  a  gentle  exercise  of  martial  law." 
The  house  of  York  being  now  secure  upon  the  throne,  the 
citizens  generally  acquiesced  in  the  rule  of  Edward,  purchas- 
ing at  the  public  cost  three-quarters  of  a  yard  of  white  kersey 
to  be  made  into  Yorkist  badges  for  the  corporation  and  its 
officers  to  be  worn  on  the  occasion  of  Edward's  visit.  A  great 
brass  gun,  captured  from  Falconbridge  at  Blackheath,  was  pre- 

^^Hist.  Mss.  Com  u,  IX,  Pt.  I,  140,  141. 

51 


sented  by  the  King  to  the  city  at  the  instance  of  certain  Yorkist 
citizens.  Thus  closed  the  incidents  connected  with  the  unhappy 
years  of  civil  strife.  Echoes  of  that  strife  continue  to  be  met 
with,  however,  in  the  town  records  for  several  years  after 
the  cessation  of  actual  hostilities;  the  heirs  of  Faunt  still  had 
to  settle  his  accounts  with  the  Exchequer.  An  old  debt  of 
20s.  was  discharged  for  the  cloth  made  into  jackets  for  the 
contingent  led  by  the  unfortunate  mayor  when  he  left  his  city 
for  the  last  time  to  strike  a  blow  in  behalf  of  his  sovereign." 
The  attitude  of  the  mayor  and  his  "honest"  partisans  goes  a 
long  way  towards  redeeming  the  burghers  of  the  towns  from 
the  charge  of  wholesale  double-dealing  with  which  they  have 
been  accused.  Forced  by  the  circumstances  of  the  time  to 
scatter  their  bribes  right  and  left,  nevertheless  when  the  crisis 
drew  near,  there  were  not  wanting  those  among  the  townsmen 
who  were  ready  to  fight  and,  if  needs  be,  die  for  the  cause 
they  espoused.  In  Canterbury  the  Lancastrian  party  seems 
to  have  been  unusually  active  and  vigilant.  By  its  very  loca- 
tion, the  city  was  inevitably  drawn  into  the  contest  between 
the  two  w^arring  factions.  Of  the  inhabitants  of  Canterbury 
it  was  peculiarly  true  that  authority  came  home  to  them  *'as 
a  mere  matter  of  arbitrary  and  violent  caprice,"  and  the  **main 
function  of  government  as  that  of  rough  extortion  and  suc- 
cessful pillage.''^^  In  a  region  which  has  been  commonly 
represented  as  devotedly  Yorkist  in  its  attachments,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  find  the  house  of  Lancaster  not  without  ardent  sup- 
porters among  the  burghers  of  Canterbury.  The  history  of  the 
town  during  the  years  of  civil  strife  furnishes  moreover  a 
refutation  of  the  statement  made  by  Stubbs  and  repeated  by 
writers  generally,  namely,  that  Edward  IV  remained  till  his 
death  a  favourite  with  the  people  of  London  and  the  larger 
tow^ns  generally. 


52  Ihid.,    IX,    Pt.    I,    142. 

53  Green,  Town  Life,  I,  216. 


^  b 


4    ^ 


52 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Cinque  Ports 

Though  diflFering  among  themselves  in  wealth  and  popula- 
tion, the  Cinque  Ports  may  be  conveniently  treated  as  a  whole ; 
for  the  men  of  Cinque  Ports  may  be  fairly  classed  as  Yorkist 
in  their  sympathies  until  they  were  called  upon  to  choose  be- 
tween Edward  and  Warwick.  For  from  first  to  last  Lord 
Warwick  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite  of  these  hardy 
mariners,  and  not  undeservedly.  It  is  not  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  sailors  of  the  Cinque  Ports  were  alienated  from  the 
support  of  the  government  partly  by  the  loss  of  the  French 
provinces.  Above  all  it  was  to  Warwick  and  the  Yorkists 
that  the  portsmen  looked  for  protection  from  French  attack 
against  which  the  men  of  the  ports  were  bound  to  give  their 
services.  The  utter  incapacity  of  the  Lancastrian  government 
to  afford  this  protection  was  signally  shown  in  1457  when 
Sandwich  was  captured  and  spoiled  by  a  fleet  of  Norman  and 
Breton  ships  under  command  of  Pierre  de  Breze,  seneschal 
of  Normandy.  One  result  was  the  conferring  upon  the  Earl 
of  Warwick  of  a  commission  to  "keep  the  seas"  for  three 
years.  And  right  valiantly  was  this  service  performed  by 
the  Yorkist  commander,  for  the  very  next  year  witnessed  a 
brilliant  victory  over  the  Spaniards.^  This  was  an  achievement 
which  would  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  the  men  of  the  Cinque 
Ports.  As  we  have  seen,  the  men  of  the  southeastern  portion 
of  the  realm,  including  the  Cinque  Ports,  were  ardent  fol- 
lowers of  Cade,  and  it  is  reasonably  clear  that  the  Yorkists  con- 
sidered Cade's  cause  as  their  own.  It  is  not,  therefore,  sur- 
prising that  the  cause  of  Edward  found  ready  partisans  among 
the  portsmen.  'There  was  never  a  rising  in  which  they 
were  not  the  most  eager  partisans  of  the  revolutionary  side."* 
So  long  as  Edward  retained  the  affection  of  the  men  of  the 
Cinque  Ports,  so  long  was  he  secure  from  attack  on  the  part 


1  Paston  Letters,  I,  429. 

2  Green,  Touni  Life,  I,  415. 


53 


of  enemies  operating  from  across  the  channel ;  but  this  security 
was  dependent  upon  maintaining  friendly  relations  with  the 
great  Earl,  as  was  shown  in  the  years  1469-70. 

In  1460  the  coast  of  Kent  proved  a  safe  landing  place  for 
the  Yorkist  leaders  and  troops  marching  to  Northampton. 
Having  landed  at  Sandwich,  the  Earls  of  March,  Salisbury, 
and  Warwick  pushed  on  toward  London.  They  were  joined 
by  practically  all  Kent,  their  ranks  including  no  doubt  many 
men  from  the  Cinque  Ports.  After  the  overthrow  of  Henry, 
we  find  the  Yorkist  government  in  relation  with  the  different 
towns.  The  men  of  New  Romney  paid  a  messenger  coming 
from  Edward  and  Warwick  6s.  8d.  with  the  mandate  to  have 
men  ready  for  sea,  in  support  of  the  King's  ships.^  Likewise 
we  learn  from  the  Dover  Corporation  Accounts  of  similar  pay- 
ments bv  that  town.*  From  this  document  it  is  seen  that  the 
mayors  of  Dover  took  an  active  part  in  the  politics  of  the  time. 
The  three  who  served  in  this  capacity  for  ten  years  of  Edward's 
reign,  beginning  in  1462,  were  Thomas  Grace,  Thomas  Hextall, 
and  Richard  Palmer.  Grace  and  Palmer  represented  their 
town  in  the  parliament  which  met  at  York,  February  5,  1464. 
Judging  from  the  records  of  the  small  dependent  town  of  Lydd, 
its  citizens  were  deeply  interested  in  the  fortunes  of  York 
and  incurred  heavy  expenses  in  his  behalf.  Soldiers  were 
fitted  out  who  fought  under  the  Earl  of  Warwick  at  the  battle 
of  Northampton.  A  sum  was  raised  for  the  services  of  thirty- 
four  men  who  marched  to  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans, 
while  anther  contingent  under  the  Earls  of  March  and  War- 
wick represented  the  town  in  the  campaign  which  ended  at 
Towton.*^  At  a  later  date  there  is  a  reference  to  a  payment  of 
**9  li  6s.  8d.  being  delyvered  to  Henry  Bate  and  John  Pultone, 
and  there  felyschypp  assigned  with  them,  going  to  the  helpe 
of  Kyng  Edwarde,  our  Sourayne  Lord,  with  my  Lord  of  War- 
wicke";^  and  "21  menne,  goyng  on  the  viage  with  the  Lordes 
of  Clarence  and  Warwyk,"  are  paid  7  li.  6s.  Sd.*^  Thomas 
Caxton,  the  town  clerk,  was  seemingly  kept  busy  recording  the 
numerous  items  of  expenditure  incurred  by  the  town  in  these 
exciting  times.    We  read  of  "expences  of  diverse  menne  goyng 

^Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  V,  544. 

♦Ms.  British  Museum.  Addit.,  26.619. 

^  Hist.  Mss.  Comnu.,  V,  Ft.  I,  523. 

« Ibid.,  V,  Ft.  I.  528. 

7  Ibid,  V,  Ft.  I.  525. 

54 


4 


>•   ^ 


to  Dovorre  unto  the  Lord  of  Warwike,  for  to  have  go  to  the 
see  13s.  2d."  Payments  are  recorded  for  "Wayche  ynne  the 
steple";  there  are  numerous  items  as  to  the  "town  gunnes"; 
expenses  are  incurred  for  getting  news  in  regard  to  the  land- 
ing of  Queen  Margaret  and  the  support  she  received  from 
Scotland;  for  ''gunne  powther";  for  men  going  to  London 
to  speak  with  the  city  ofificials  touching  the  entrance  of  War- 
wick's men,  and  for  ''to  know  how  we  shuld  spede  and  be 
guydyd."®  Then  gifts  had  to  be  provided  for  influential  per- 
sons, whose  favour  the  townsmen  sought,  for  strengthening  the 
fortifications,  for  ''exspences  of  ledyng  up  the  manne  to  the 
Kyng,  that  was  take  with  letters  from  the  Duke  of  Somerset," 
who  was  beheaded  in  1463.  Money  was  laid  out  for  ''two 
cryes   for  the   muster,"   and    for   various   and   sundry   other 

things. 

The  charter  granted  the  Cinque  Ports  by  Edward  IV  in 
1465  alludes  to  the  ''good,  ready,  and  grateful  services  which 
the  barons  and  men  of  the  Cinque  Ports  have  done  in  the 
redemption  of  the  right  of  our  kingdom"  during  the  long  con- 
test between  him  and  Henry  VI  for  the  crown  of  the  realm. 
As  an  evidence  of  gratitude  for  the  same  he  confirms  in  the 
most  full  and  ample  manner  all  the  rights,  liberties,  and  privi- 
leges enjoyed  by  the  Ports  and  their  members  since  the  time 
of  Edward  the  Confessor;  nor  are  they  to  be  forfeited  by 
non-use  or  abuse  of  the  same  on  the  part  of  the  barons  of 
the  Ports.  Wherever  there  may  be  parts  difficult  or  defective 
in  any  of  their  customs,  the  mayor  and  jurats  in  any  port, 
where  such  difficulty  or  defect  may  be  apparent,  shall  have 
the  power  of  examining  the  same  and  granting  a  remedy  for 
it.^  It  is  thus  seen  of  how  great  importance  to  the  Cinque 
Ports  was  this  charter  of  Edward  IV;  and  the  powers  con- 
tained therein  bear  witness  to  the  close  allegiance  between 
these  independent  barons  and  the  Yorkist  King. 

The  most  exciting  times,  however  were  still  in  store  for  the 
men  of  the  Cinque  Ports.  For  the  year  1469-70  found  these 
hardy  mariners  seemingly  in  alliance  with  Warwick  in  his 
rebellion  against  King  Edward.  In  1469  the  King  being  at 
Sandwich  ordered  all  the  women  to  be  sent  out  of  town,  whose 
husbands   or   lovers — "viros    seu   sponsos"-— were   abroad    in 

8  See  Ibid.,  V,  Ft.  I,  522-523. 

9  Jeake,  Charters  of  Cinque  Ports,  p.  52. 

55 


I 


the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence  and  Earl  of  Warwick.^^ 
The  next  year  there  is  record  of  "a  silver  gilt  cup  to  be  given 
to  the  Earl  of  Warwick."  An  expense  of  5s.  3d.  was  incurred 
on  the  occasion  of  the  mayor  riding  "to  my  Lord  Warwick."^^ 
As  a  penalty  for  siding  with  his  enemies,  Edward  by  a  privy 
seal  deprived  the  corporation  of  all  its  privileges,  freedoms 
and  liberties,  the  town  to  be  governed  by  a  lieutenant  during 
the  suspension  of  its  privileges.^-  Dover  likewise  opened  its 
port  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick  after  he  had  deserted  the  Yorkist 
King.  There  are  numerous  entries  in  the  Dover  Corporation 
Accounts  which  illustrate  the  political  activity  of  the  corpora- 
tion during  these  years.  Expenses  are  incurred  in  connection 
with  the  Lord  Mayor  riding  to  meet  Lord  Warwick,  also  for 
a  dinner  to  "Ld  Warwicks  counsell" ;  there  are  references  also 
showing  a  friendly  relation  with  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  John 
Fuller  was  paid  for  riding  to  London  with  the  "money  for  ye 
Kyng's  service."  Three  barons  were  paid  for  riding  to  Can- 
terbury to  "ye  King,"  and  were  given  26s.  4d.  for  riding  to 
London  "for  to  come  to  ye  King's  counsell."^^  These  are 
no  doubt  allusions  to  the  period  after  the  restoration  of  Edward 
IV.  There  are  likewise  payments  for  gunpowder,  for  "scout 
wache,"  while  many  an  item  of  expense  is  incurred  in  con- 
nection with  the  "Gret  Gune."  "Tom  Grygg  and  Tom  Day 
pd.  1/6  for  dressyng  of  the  gret  gonne  above  Wall."  Eight 
pence  was  paid  for  carrying  the  "Grett  Guns,"  and  2d.  for 
bearing  the  said  gun  or  guns  from  the  "strete  to  ye  clyflf."^* 
In  November,  1471,  Edward  appointed  a  commission  to  try 
the  rebels  who  had  supported  Warwick  when  he  raised  Henry 
VI  to  the  throne.^^  The  liberties  of  Dover  were  seized  and 
"for  the  good  and  decent  government  and  happy  rule  of  the 
town  and  its  members,  and  our  people  of  the  same,  Thomas 
Hextall,  receiver  of  the  Lord  Warden,  was  appointed  custos 
of  the  town,  with  its  members,  with  power  to  rule  and  govern 
the  same,  and  have  the  keys  and  administration,  even  as  the 
mayor  hitherto  had  had."^^  The  town,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  pardoned  almost  immediately. 

^^  Boys,  Collections  for  a  History  of  Sandwich,  p.  676. 

11  Ms.  British  Museum,  Addit.,  26,619. 

12  Boys,  Collections  for  a  History  of  Sandwich,  p.  676. 

13  Ms.  British  Museum,  Addit.,  26,619. 
1*  Ibid. 

15  Statham,  Dover  Charters  and  Other  Documents,  p.  249. 
i^Hueffer,  The  Cinque  Ports,  p.  269. 

56 


From  the  records  it  is  evident  that  the  town  of  New  Romney 
also  was  inclined  to  side  with  Warwick  rather  than  with  Ed- 
ward when  these  two  became  estranged.    At  the  beginning  of 
his  reign  we  find  the  following  entry:     "Paid  for  our  share 
of  a  certain  gift  of  100  marks  to  Richard,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
our  Warden,  to  have  his  friendship  in  the  office  of  Warden 
aforesaid,  at  the  Court  of  Shepwey,  11   li.  2s.  3d."     And  in 
the  same  year  is  another  entry:  "Paid  to  Robert  Clytherow, 
bringing  letters  of  our  Lord  the  King,  and  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick to  have  men  ready  for  sea,  in  support  of  his  ships. "^^ 
In   1469-70  the  sum  of  34s.    lod.   was  paid  John  Cheynew, 
Thomas  Couper,  and  others,  employed  on  the  voyage  of  the  Earl 
of  Warwick.^®    The  town  of  Lydd  likewise  "paid  to  21  menne, 
goyng  on  the  viage  with  the  Lordes  of  Clarance  and  Warwyck, 
7  H.  6s.  8d."      In  the  following  year  occurs  this  entry:  "Paide 
to  a  manne  bryngyng  commandement  that  we  shulde  areste  all 
manner  of  schippes  by  longyng  to  the  Yerle  of  Warwicke  4d."^^ 
It  is  thus  seen  that  the  Cinque  Ports  on  the  whole  figure  prom- 
inently in  the  politics  of  the  time.    Nor  is  this  surprising  when 
we   consider   the   strategic   position   of    the    Ports,    the    inde- 
pendent character  of  the  government  enjoyed  by  the  barons  of 
these  sea-coast  towns,  and  their  eagerness  to  have  a  hand  in 
every  fray  that  came  near  their  shores.     With  characteristic 
readiness  they  cast  off  their  allegiance  to  Henry  and  adhered 
to  the  fortunes  of  Edward  until  his  breach  with  Warwick, 
who,  from  first  to  last,  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  men  of  Cinque  Ports.    For  the  cause  of  Henry  VI  they 
seem  to  have  felt  no  enthusiasm.     Their  allegiance  w^as  re- 
served primarily  for  the  bold  and  successful  sea-captain  who 
knew  how  to  deal  the  Spaniards  or  the  Bretons  a  heavy  blow ; 
the  Lancastrian  government  had  shown  its  utter  incompetence 
to  protect  the  coast  of  the  southeastern  part  of  the  realm  from 
the  attacks  of  the  enemy.     Naturally  the  barons  of  the  Ports 
turned  to  the  Yorkists  as  likely  to  afford  that  protection  which 
the  rival  administration   was  either   indifferent  or  powerless 
to  give. 

Ipswich  favoured  the  cause  of  the  White  Rose.     In   1462 
the  town  provided  for  twenty  armed  men  for  the  King's  service. 

'^'^  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  V,  Ft.  I,  544. 
18/61W.,  V,  Ft.  I,  545. 
^Ubid,V,  Ft.  I,  525- 

57 


Two  years  later  Edward  guaranteed  all  the  privileges  of  for- 
mer charters,  with  some  alterations  and  additions.  The  ample 
charter  of  Henry  VI  had  incorporated  the  town  by  style  of 
"the  Burgesses  of  Ipswich";  the  charter  of  Edward  IV  sub- 
stituted for  this  the  phrase  the  ''Bailiffs,  Burgesses,  and  com- 
monalty of  the  Town  of  Ipswich,"  and  authorized  them  an- 
nually to  elect  burgesses  as  bailiffs.  The  town  granted  a  loan 
of  £40  to  the  King  and  paid  the  same  by  two  instalments  of 
£20  each.  By  an  assessment  as  an  aid  to  the  King  who  called 
for  the  sum  "under  the  specious  appellation  of  a  benevolence," 
the  townsmen  raised  £21.  2s.  jd.  In  1469  provision  was  made 
for  twelve  soldiers  for  five  weeks,  a  fifteenth  being  collected 
for  that  purpose ;  twenty  men  were  moreover  kept  armed  and 
in  readiness  for  the  King's  service  when  the  same  should  be 
called  for.2o 

Ipswich  thus  affords  another  clean-cut  instance  of  loyalty 
to  the  Yorkist  faction;  the  Mowbray  influence,  together  with 
the  concern  of  the  townsmen  for  trade  and  good  government  no 
doubt  go  far  to  explain  their  sympathy  with  the  Yorkist  cause. 
If  a  Lancastrian  faction  existed  in  the  town,  no  trace  of  any 
activity  on  its  part  is  disclosed  in  the  town  records. 

20  Ms.  British  Museum,  Addit.,  25,334.       Cf.  Bacon,  Annalls  of  Ips- 
wiche,  pp.  120,  122,  129,  130. 


^ 


r  » 


♦  * 


5« 


CHAPTER  VII 

Northampton,  Beverley,  Ludlow 

Northamptonshire  no  doubt  contained  many  Lancastrian 
lords ;  and  the  capital  of  the  county  probably  had  Lancastrian 
sympathizers;  any  active  participation  in  the  war,  however, 
on  the  part  of  the  citizens  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  the 
partisans  of  York.  In  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  reign  Henry 
VI  granted  the  men  and  burgesses  of  Northampton  a  charter 
incorporating  the  town  by  the  name  of  the  mayor,  bailiffs,  and 
burgesses  of  Northampton,  and  appointing  the  mayor  justice 
of  the  peace.  This  charter  was  granted  in  consideration  partly 
of  the  great  and  memorable  services  which  ''they  have  now 
lately  performed  by  their  daily  attendance  on  and  assistance 
to  our  royal  person  at  their  heavy  costs,  expenses,  and  charges 
for  the  resistance,  reduction  and  correction  of  divers  of  our 
rebellious  people."  In  the  first  year  of  his  reign  Edward 
granted  the  town  a  general  pardon  for  all  offenses  committed 
before  November  4,  1461.^  On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be 
noted  that  the  ''Wild  Rat"  of  Northampton  is  mentioned 
among  the  Yorkist  standards  at  Towton.  Edward  was  at 
Northampton  from  the  8th  to  the  28th  of  July,  1463.^  In 
1471,  when  returning  from  exile,  he  was  well  received,  says  the 
chronicler,  at  a  good  town  called  Northampton,^  though  no  in- 
ference is  to  be  drawn  from  this  as  to  the  predilection  of  the 
citizens.  On  another  occasion  the  commons  of  Northampton 
manifested  friendly  concern  for  King  Edward.  "And  the 
Kyng  fulle  lovyngly  gave  the  comyns  of  Northampton  a  tonne 
of  wyne  that  they  should  drynke  and  make  merry."*  Most 
probably  the  town,  as  most  of  the  others,  contained  adherents 
of  both  the  Red  Rose  and  the  White. 

The  story  turns  again  to  the  north,  and  in  the  little  town 
of  Beverley  we  have  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  manner 

1  Markham,  Records  of  the  Borough  of  Northampton,  I,  84,  85,  89. 

2  Paston  Letters,  I,  135. 

^  Arrivall  of  King  EduHird  IV,  p.  14. 

*  Gregory's  Chronicle  (ed.  Gairdner),  p.  222. 

59 


f 


in  which  the  politics  of  a  borough  was  influenced  by  the  mag- 
nates of  the  neighbouring  country;  for  the  town  records  dis- 
close a  frequent  and  active  intercourse  between  the  townsmen 
and  certain  powerful  lords.  The  feudal  lord  of  Beverley  was 
the  Archbishop  of  York.  The  primate  of  the  northern  province 
was  Bishop  Booth,  of  Lichfield,  who  had  been  translated  to 
York  in  1452;  in  1464  he  was  succeeded  by  George  Neville. 
But  the  appointment  of  a  Yorkist  bishop  failed  to  exercise  any 
change  in  the  feelings  of  the  men  of  Beverley,  who  afford 
another  instance, — contrary  to  the  commonly  accepted  view — 
of  loyalty  from  principle  to  the  party  of  their  choice.  The 
town  is  said  to  have  been  chiefly  occupied  by  merchants  and 
ecclesiastics ;  it  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  the  in- 
habitants not  taking  an  active  part  in  the  civil  strife  of  the 
times.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  men  of  Beverley  sym- 
pathized with  the  cause  represented  by  the  Red  Rose.  The 
town  accounts  reveal  expenditures  for  wine  given  to  Henry 
Percy,  third  Earl  of  Northumberland,  who  was  slain  at  Towton. 
He  and  his  wife  visited  Beverley  for  the  purpose  of  preserv- 
ing their  own  and  the  Lancastrian  influence  in  the  town ; 
messengers  passed  between  the  borough  and  the  Earl  touching 
matters  pertaining  to  the  commonalty.  Rewards  were  given 
to  the  servant  of  the  Earl,  capons  to  Ralph  Percy,  bread  and 
wine  to  Lord  Egremont,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Northamp- 
ton, carp  and  wine  to  Lord  Clifford.^  There  were  numerous 
expenditures  in  connection  with  letters  sent  to  George,  Lord 
Neville.  ''And  in  monies  given  to  Cuthbert  Colwell  on  the 
23rd  of  October  hired  to  labour  and  ride  as  far  as  Raby  to 
speak  with  the  lord  Neville  concerning  the  rule  of  the  said 
town  of  Beverley,  13s.  4d.''^  The  town  was  likewise  busy  in 
Margaret's  support,  lagans  of  red  wine  being  given  to  the 
Queen's  servants  and  expenses  being  incurred  in  connection 
with  providing  victuals  for  her  household.  It  is  only  fair  to 
add,  however,  that  after  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  Beverley  be- 
came alternately  subject,  it  seems,  to  the  expense  of  providing 
for  and  entertaining  Yorkists  as  well  as  Lancastrians,  heavy 
expenses  being  incurred  in  connection  with  the  new  govern- 
ment of  Edward  IV.  The  King  commanded  the  bailiff  and 
the  burgesses  to  repair  to  him  with  a  force  of  armed  men. 

5  Poulson,  Beverlac,  I,  226,  227,  234,  235. 

6  Ibid.,  I,  229,  231. 

60 


*     '. 


Provision   was  made   for  the  men,  numerous  items  of   ex- 
pense being  incurred  in  connection  with  raising  and  equip- 
ping "twenty  armed  men"   for  the  field  of   Northampton.'* 
Also  ''paid  to  three  minstrels  of  the  town  for  their  labour  in 
playing  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  said  armed  men  out 
of  the  town,  6d."^     The  men  of  Beverley  were  also  engaged 
at  Towton  in  upholding  the  cause  of  the  Red  Rose.    "And  in 
wine  given  to  the  armed  men  of  the  town  when  they  rode 
towards  Towton,  I2d."^    On  several  other  occasions  the  town 
provided  archers  for  a  similar  purpose.     Expenditures  were 
incurred  for  clothing  and  arming  men  sent  in  King  Edward's 
service  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.®    While  it  is  apparent  there- 
fore that  Beverley  supported  the  cause  of  Edward  IV  on  cer- 
tain occasions,  it  is  reasonably  clear  that  such  support  was 
rendered  from  compulsion  rather  than  from  choice,  for  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  sympathized  with  the  house  of  Lan- 
caster,—a  fact  which  no  doubt  is  to  be  explained  in  large 
measure  by  the  influence  exerted  over  the  townsmen  by  the 
powerful  adherents  of  the  Red  Rose  who  lived  in  that  part  of 
the  country.    The  history  of  the  town  during  the  period  of  civil 
strife  further  illustrates  another  fact  to  which  allusion  has 
already   been    made:    the   helplessness,    so   to    speak,    of    the 
burghers  to  protect  themselves  from  oppression  on  the  part  of 
the  Crown  and  of  those  who  had  it  in  their  power  to  make 
the  townsmen   feel  the  weight  of  their  resentment.     Hence 
the  readiness  with  which  the  town  officials  sought  to  conciliate 
by  gifts  and  bribes  powerful  members  of  the  nobility.     The 
men  of  Beverley,  as  those  of  many  another  place  during  the 
period  of  civil  strife,  were  keenly  alive  to  the  importance  of 
keeping  themselves  informed  of  the  events  of  the  time.     This 
is  shown  by  the  entry  in  the  town  records  of  the  following: 
"Also  paid  to  one  labourer  walking  to  Leconfield  to  hear  the 
rumours,  4d.'*^° 

Few  towns  were  more  devoted  to  the  Yorkist  cause  than 
Ludlow  which  belonged  to  the  Duke  of  York,  and  which  bore 
no  small  share  in  the  calamities  of  the  times.  This  "town  of 
noble  fame"  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  Mortimer  power  and  its 


7  Ibid.,  I,  227,  228.    See  also  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  IX,  140,  142.  144.  US- 

8  Poulson,  Bez'crlac,  I,  238. 
»  Ibid.,   I,   239-242. 

10  Ibid.,  I,  231. 

61 


castle  the  favourite  residence  of  Richard  Plantagenet.  Here 
he  mustered  the  army  which  melted  away  in  the  rout  of  Lud- 
ford  Bridge.  When  Edward  IV  recovered  the  sovereignty, 
Ludlow  was  chosen  as  the  proper  seat  for  the  residence  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales;  here  he  kept  his  court  at  the  time  of 
his  father's  death.  In  1459  the  town  was  cruelly  ravaged  by 
the  northern  army  of  Margaret."  **And  forth  with  the  Kynge 
rode  unto  Ludlowe  &  dyspoiled  the  towne  and  castell.'*  The 
men  of  Ludlow  were  probably  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Towton. 
Edward's  partiality  for  the  town  is  shown  by  the  valuable 
charter  granted  the  townsmen  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign; 
by  this  act  he  assisted  in  recovering  Ludlow  from  the  desolate 
state  to  which  it  had  been  reduced  by  adhering  to  his  father's 
cause.  Until  this  charter  the  town  held  all  its  rights  and  fran- 
chises by  grant  from  the  lord  of  the  manor.  The  charter  of 
incorporation  makes  mention  of  ''the  laudable  and  gratuitous 
services  which  our  beloved  and  faithful  subjects  the  burgesses 
of  the  town  of  Ludlow  have  rendered  unto  us  in  the  obtaining 
of  our  right  to  the  crown  of  England  for  a  long  time  past 
withheld  from  us  and  our  ancestors,  in  great  peril  of  their 
lives:  and  also  the  rapines,  depredations,  oppressions,  losses 
of  goods,  and  other  grievances,  for  us  and  our  sake  in  divers 
ways  brought  upon  them  by  certain  of  our  competitors ;  being 
therefore  desirous  for  the  amelioration  and  relief  of  our  town 
aforesaid  and  of  the  burgesses  and  inhabitants  in  the  same, 
to  bestow  our  grace  and  favour  on  the  same  burgesses,  by  our 
royal  munificence  we  have  granted  and  by  these  presents  do 
grant  to  our  burgesses  of  our  town  aforesaid,  that  the  same 
shall  be  a  free  borough  for  ever.'*  The  charter  thus  relieved 
the  townsmen  of  all  feudal  dependence,  with  the  absolute  right 
of  managing  their  own  afifairs  and  of  electing  their  own  of- 
ficers, on  condition  of  an  annual  payment  of  twenty-four 
pounds,  thirteen  shillings,  and  four  pence;  a  gilda  mercatoria 
was  also  granted  by  the  King,  with  further  extensive  liberties 
and  privileges.^^  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  services  rendered 
Edward  by  his  town  of  Ludlow  must  have  been  considerable, 
for  the  grant  is  one  of  unusual  value,  and  is  recorded  to  be 
in  return  for  assistance  rendered  the  King. 

Margaret  seems  to  have  cultivated  not  unsuccessfully  the 

^1  Whethamstede,  I,  345. 

^2  For  the  charters,  see  Wright,  History  of  Ludlow,  pp.  5-44. 

62 


d    ♦ 


friendship  of  the  citizens  of  Chester.  Cheshire  was  a  region 
in  which  the  Lancastrian  party  could  generally  count  upon 
securing  recruits.  Prominent  among  her  supporters  was  Lord 
Stanley,  whose  influence  in  the  county  is  said  to  have  been 
considerable.  In  1453  Queen  Margaret  "came  to  Chester  upon 
progresse  with  manye  greate  lords  and  ladyes  with  her  and 
was  graciously  received  by  the  Mayor  and  citizens."  Two 
years  later  Margaret  was  again  a  visitor  at  Chester;  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  Queen  is  said  to  have  resided  for  some  time 
in  the  city  entertaining  with  great  hospitality  the  citizens  and 
gentlemen  of  the  county,  who  were  in  general  well  aflfected  to 
her.^^  In  1457  Margaret  and  her  son  again  came  to  Chester 
during  the  summer  where  she  kept  open  house,  hoping  thereby 
to  draw  the  county  to  her  party.^*  Likewise  in  the  following 
year  Margaret  seems  to  have  been  in  Chester  for  the  purpose 
of  enlisting  the  sympathies  of  the  townsmen.  In  the  summer 
preceding  the  battle  of  Blore  Heath,  which  proved  so  disastrous 
to  the  men  of  Cheshire  and  in  which  many  of  the  citizens  of 
Chester  are  said  to  have  fallen  fighting  in  behalf  of  the  Red 
Rose,  the  Queen  lodged  at  Eccleshall  Castle,  the  residence  of 
her  chaplain,  John  Halse,  bishop  of  Chester.  As  on  previous 
occasions,  the  Queen  is  said  to  have  kept  ''open  and  royal 
house"  and  by  her  liberality  to  have  gained  the  hearts  of  the 
gentry.  Margaret  went  to  the  field  of  battle  and  stood  in 
Eccleston  Steeple;  from  thence  she  saw  the  fatal  rout  of  the 
King's  army  on  Blore  Heath.  As  noted  above,  the  citizens  of 
Chester  and  the  gentlemen  of  Cheshire  were  the  principal 
sufferers  in  this  engagement.  On  that  day  the  Queen's  ad- 
herents wore  silver  swans,  the  cognizance  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales;  these  had  been  given  her  partisans  by  Margaret  as 
marks  of  her  favour.^^ 

Among  the  towns  which  suffered  cruelly  for  their  Yorkist 
proclivities  was  Stamford.  In  1459  Edward  by  letters  patent 
incorporated  the  town  and  granted  it  immunity  from  all  ex- 
ternal jurisdiction;  the  chief  alderman  was  raised  to  a  position 
of  exceptional  privilege  and  responsibility,  being  within  his 
jurisdiction  the  immediate  lieutenant  of  the  King:  "also 
granting  him  one  or  more  mace  or  maces  of  gold  or  silver, 

13  Ms.  British  Museum,  Stozve,  811. 
i*Ms.  British  Museum,  Addit.,  29,780. 
^^  Ibid.,  Addit.,  ii,334- 

63 


at  his  choice,  to  be  carried  before  him  for  his  greater  honour 
or  dignity;  and  the  further  privilege  of  a  common  seal  at 
arms."^*  Two  years  later  the  Lancastrian  army  under  Sir 
Andrew  Trollope  burst  in  and  ravaged  the  town  with  fire  and 
sword.  "These  devastations  were  of  such  magnitude  that 
Stamford  never  afterwards  recovered  its  ancient  dignity." 
Not  even  the  vessels  and  books  of  their  altar  were  spared ;  a 
number  of  churches  were  partially  or  completely  destroyed 
as  well  as  all  the  municipal  archives."  Edward  IV  was  a 
visitor  at  Stamford  in  1462  and  was  entertained  by  John 
Browne,  alderman,  a  wealthy  merchant.  In  spite  of  the  ruin 
visited  upon  the  town  by  the  Lancastrians,  it  was  able  to  fur- 
nish a  powerful  contingent  to  the  royal  army  when  Edward 
IV  passed  through  in  1470  from  Fotheringay  Castle  against  Sir 
Robert  Welles  and  Sir  Thomas  de  la  Launde.  In  return  for 
the  horse  and  foot  furnished  bv  the  men  of  Stamford  with 
which  Edward  won  the  battle  of  ''Bloody  Oaks,"  he  granted 
the  town  permission  to  bear  the  royal  arms  upon  a  surcoat.^^ 
The  loyalty  of  the  inhabitants  of  Stamford  to  the  cause  of 
the  White  Rose  is  not  difficult  to  explain.  In  1363  the  castle 
and  manor  of  Stamford  were  given  by  Edward  III  to  his 
son  Edward,  Duke  of  York.  The  dukes  of  York  were  thus 
the  lords  of  Stamford.  The  loyalty  thus  naturally  felt  by  the 
citizens  for  the  chiefs  of  the  Yorkist  party  was  "fanned  to  a 
white  heat"  by  the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  their  town  by  the 
followers  of  Margaret.  Among  other  towns  sacked  by  the 
northern  troops  of  Margaret  after  the  battle  of  Wakefield 
was  Grantham,  the  lordship  and  manor  of  which  were  granted 
by  Edward  IV  in  1461  to  his  mother.  Cicely,  Duchess  of  York. 
While  there  is  no  record  of  any  active  participation  by  the 
men  of  Grantham  in  the  civil  strife  of  the  period,  it  may 
very  well  be  believed  that  the  townsmen  were  loyal  to  the 
Yorkist  side.  No  affection  would  be  felt  by  the  inhabitants  for 
the  despoilers  of  their  town ;  furthermore,  Edward  IV  granted 
the  place  a  charter  in  1462,  from  which  Grantham  dates  its 
existence  as  a  corporate  borough,  the  recognition  of  its  mer- 
chant gild,  and  the  right  of  sending  two  burgesses  to  Par- 
liament.^®   When  King  Henry  VI  sent  to  Newbury  in  order 

i«  The   charter  granted   Stamford    by    Edward    IV    is    printed    in 
Drakard's  History  of  Stamford  in  the  County  of  Lincoln,  IV,  77-78. 
1^  Cf .  Nevinson,  History  of  Stamford,  pp.  59-60,  61-63. 
18  Merewether  and  Stephens,  Boroughs,  II,  970-971. 

64 


<^"» 


to  collect  money,  the  inhabitants  refused  to  pay  saying  they 
would  keep  what  they  had  for  the  Duke  of  York.^®  Newbury 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  towns  which  had  declared  most 
openly  for  the  Duke  and  had  previously  supported  his  cause. 
In  1460  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  Lords  Scales  and  Hungerford, 
visited  Newbury  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  and  punishing 
those  who  had  been  in  arms  against  the  King.  In  consequence 
of  this  visit  some  of  the  townsmen  were  hanged,  drawn  and 
quartered,  and  all  the  other  inhabitants  despoiled  of  their 
goods.2<^  Newbury  suffered  the  same  fate  as  Grantham  and 
Stamford,  being  sacked  by  the  followers  of  the  Earl  of  Wilt- 
shire. The  ravaging  of  the  town  by  the  troops  of  Margaret 
was  a  potent  cause  in  alienating  from  her  support  those  who 
had  hitherto  sided  with  the  house  of  Lancaster.  An  illustra- 
tion of  this  has  already  been  instanced  in  the  case  of  Coventry. 
From  first  to  last  the  burgesses  of  the  royal  borough  of  King's 
Lynn  are  said  to  have  espoused  the  cause  of  the  White  Rose ; 
and  that,  too,  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  odds.  When  King 
Edward  was  hotly  pursued  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the 
fugitive  was  generously  entertained  by  its  citizens.  Among 
the  adherents  of  the  house  of  York  should  be  included  the 
little  town  of  Wenlock.  In  1467,  its  lord,  Sir  John  Wenlock, 
who  was  killed  at  Tewkesbury,  obtained  from  King  Edward 
IV  a  grant  that  Wenlock  should  be  a  free  borough,  •  incor- 
porated with  a  bailiff  and  burgesses,  and  that  its  liberties  should 
extend  throughout  the  parish  of  the  Holy  Trinity  of  Wenlock. 
The  charter  makes  mention  of  the  laudable  services  that  the 
men  of  the  town  performed  in  assisting  the  King  to  gain  pos- 
session of  his  crown."  Finally,  we  are  told  that  *'in  the  revo- 
lutionary times  of  1470,  the  citizens  of  Bridport  were  un- 
luckily associated  with  the  party  of  Henry  VI,  and  for  years 
after  their  wealth  was  lavished  in  buying  back  the  favour  of 
the  court."" 

19  DeWaurin,  V,  270. 

^^  English  Chronicle  (ed.  Davies),  p.  90. 

21  Merewether  and   Stephens,  Boroughs,  II,   1000. 

22  Green,  Town  Life,  I,  215. 


65 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Conclusion 


This  completes  our  survey  of  those  towns  which  were 
actively  concerned  directly  or  indirectly  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses.  As  has  been  seen,  the  account  includes  some  thirty  or 
more  boroughs,  representing  every  part  of  the  realm  and  every 
degree  of  wealth  and  size.  At  the  head  of  the  list  stand  Lon- 
don and  those  cities  which  ranked  next  to  the  metropolis  in 
wealth  and  population  such  as  Bristol  and  York;  at  the  other 
end  of  the  scale  are  insignificant  places  like  Bridport  and  Wen- 
lock.  The  struggle  involved  flourishing  seaports  like  South- 
ampton, and  decaying  inland  towns  like  Winchester  and  Lin- 
coln. Contrary  to  the  view  which  has  been  generally  held, 
it  would  seem  that  the  boroughs  assumed  a  more  determined 
and  active  attitude  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  than  has  generally 
been  ascribed  to  them.  And  though  their  lack  of  unity  and 
of  concert  prevented  their  achieving  any  marked  results,  or 
swinging  the  fortunes  of  civil  war  one  way  or  the  other,  yet 
the  part  played  by  the  townsmen  in  the  struggle  is  by  no  means 
an  insignificant  one,  considering  the  unwarlike  character  of 
the  inhabitants  of  a  medieval  town,  and  the  comparatively 
small  size  of  the  majority  of  fifteenth  century  English  bor- 
oughs. If  a  comparison  be  made  with  the  levy  of  archers 
voted  by  Parliament  in  1453,^  it  will  be  seen  that  towns  like 
Coventry  and  Norwich  put  forth  vigorous  eflforts  in  behalf  of 
the  cause  espoused  by  these  cities.  Virtually  every  flourishing 
municipality  sent  its  contingent  to  Edward's  banner  at  Towton. 
More  than  one  illustration  has  been  given  of  towns  which  were 
consistently  loyal  to  the  party  of  their  choice,  and  loyal  at 
the  cost  of  ruined  trade  and  depleted  finances.  A  sufficient 
amount  of  evidence  of  this  character  has  been  adduced  to 
relieve  the  towns  of  the  imputation  of  wholesale  double-dealing 
with  which  their  attitude  has  been  characterized.  That  there 
were  such  instances  is  very  evident ;  nor  is  a  policy  of  self- 


.^  * 


1  Rot.  Pari,  V,  232. 


66 


preservation  to  be  wondered  at  on  the  part  of  the  townsmen, 
when  one  takes  into  consideration  the  dangers  that  confronted 
their  liberties  and  well-being  in  consequence  of  too  active  a 
participation  in  the  civil  strife.  At  the  same  time  there  were 
not  lacking  those  among  the  burgesses  who  clung  with  fidelity 
to  the  party  of  their  choice  even  after  the  conflict  had  de- 
generated into  what  has  been  termed  a  blood-feud  between  two 
reckless  factions.  And  more  than  once  this  fidelity  had  as  its 
reward  only  forfeited  rights  and  injured  trade.  On  the  whole 
it  would  seem  not  unfair  to  refer  to  the  cause  represented  by 
the  Yorkists  as  the  popular  one,  though  as  has  been  seen,  every 
leading  borough  contained  adherents  of  the  Red  Rose  as  well 
as  of  the  White.  We  are  pretty  safe  in  assuming,  however, 
that  the  number  of  burghers  who  favoured  the  house  of  York 
exceeded  the  number  of  those  who  sided  with  Lancaster. 

In  seeking  for  an  explanation  of  the  reason  why  a  majority 
of  the  townsmen  should  have  sided  with  York  rather  than 
with  Lancaster,  we  shall  hardly  err  in  adducing  as  the  most 
potent  the  instability  of  Henry  VFs  government.  The  un- 
settled state  of  the  realm  during  the  years  just  preceding  the 
outbreak  of  actual  hostilities  has  been  frequently  commented 
upon.  The  tenth  article  of  the  "Kentish  Memorial"  constitutes 
a  vigorous  arraignment  of  Henry  VFs  administration :  "His 
law  is  lost ;  his  merchandize  is  lost ;  his  commerce  destroyed ; 
the  sea  is  lost;  France  is  lost;  himself  is  made  so  poor,  that 
he  may  not  pay  for  his  meat  and  drink ;  he  oweth  more  and  is 
greater  in  debt  than  ever  was  King  in  England. "^  The  order 
and  security  which  is  the  very  life  of  trade  and  industry  were 
woefully  lacking  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  to 
the  dwellers  in  the  towns  it  was  only  too  evident  that  "the 
realme  of  England  was  oute  of  all  good  gouernance,"  whereby 
"the  hertes  of  the  peple  were  turned  away  from  theyme  that 
had  the  londe  in  gouverance,  and  theyre  blyssyng  was  tumyd 
into  cursyng."^  Not  only  was  the  Lancastrian  government 
powerless  to  secure  order  within  the  realm ;  it  was  equally 
helpless  in  protecting  the  sea-coast  towns  from  attack, — a  fact 
which  no  doubt  goes  far  toward  explaining  the  attitude  of 
the  Cinque  Ports  in  adhering  to  the  Duke  of  York's  party 
until  the  breach  between  Edward  and  Warwick. 

2  Chronicles  of  the  White  Rose,  Introd.,  p.  75. 
^English  Chronicle  (ed.  Davies),  p.  179. 

67 


Generally  speaking  Henry  VFs  reign  is  a  striking  instance 
of  the  final  failure  of  saintly  feebleness.  The  pious  King 
was  such  an  '^innocent  person"  as  was  not  fit  to  govern  the 
realm.  As  a  chronicler  puts  it,  "King  Henry  was  a  goostly 
and  good  man,  and  set  little  store  by  worldly  matters."  The 
conduct  of  Margaret's  northern  troops  in  ravaging  the  help- 
less towns  widened  the  breach  between  the  Lancastrian  party 
and  the  class  of  burghers.  The  Queen's  followers  openly  said 
they  had  been  given  leave  to  spoil  and  rob  the  places  south 
of  the  Trent.  Every  town  felt  it  might  suffer  the  same  fate 
that  had  befallen  St.  Albans.  "And  all  this  season  was  greate 
wacche  made  in  the  citie  of  London  fifor  it  was  Reported  that 
the  Queen  w*  the  Northern  men  wold  come  downe  to  th 
Citie  and  Robbe  and  dispoile  the  Citie,  and  destroy  it  vtterly, 
and  all  the  Sowth  Cuntre."*  The  fear  of  the  Londoners  in 
this  regard  would  be  shared  by  more  than  one  municipality. 
According  to  the  chronicler,  the  citizens  of  the  metropolis 
dreaded  this  queen  and  her  fury  "leste  she  wolde  have  spoyled 
the  cyte, — for  as  moche  as  the  queue  with  her  counselle  had 
graunted  yeve  leve  to  the  Northurmen  for  to  spoyle  and 
robbe  the  sayde  cyte,  and  also  the  townes  of  Couentre,  Bristow, 
and  Salesbury,  ..."  "bot  God  wolde  not  suffre  such  a  fals 
robbery."'  It  was  clear  that  trade  and  industry  had  nothing 
to  hope  for  from  the  vindictive  Queen.  The  government  of 
Henry  VI  was  not  only  powerless  to  restore  order,  but  the 
followers  of  the  Lancastrian  chiefs  were  even  incited  by  their 
leaders  to  rob  and  destroy  the  more  populous  and  flourishing 
communities  of  the  south.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  to  find 
those  among  the  townsmen  who  up  to  this  time  had  been  loyal 
to  the  Lancastrian  government,  attaching  themselves  to  the 
Yorkist  party. 

But  there  were  other  causes  besides  the  instability  of  Henry 
VTs  government  and  the  havoc  wrought  upon  the  towns 
which  would  weigh  with  the  burghers  of  the  realm  in  deter- 
mining whether  they  should  continue  to  adhere  to  the  Lan- 
castrian party,  or  should  yield  allegiance  to  the  cause  of  the 
White  Rose.  *The  treasurer,  by  severe  requisitions  from  the 
Yorkist  towns,  and  by  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  purveyance 
.   .   .  drew  down  popular  hatred  on  the  cause  which  was  re- 

*  KmgsioTd,Chronicles  of  London,  p.  172. 

^  Paston  Letters,  III,  250;  English  Chronicle  (ed.  Davies),  pp.  98,  109. 

68 


♦    * 


T  t 

1 


duced  to  such  expedients."®  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  exac- 
tions of  Henry's  treasurer,  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  the  effect 
of  which  would  be  to  intensify  the  ill-will  felt  for  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  towns  with  Yorkist  leanings,  and  to  excite  an 
alarm  in  towns  which  were  disposed  to  be  neutral,  lest  they 
too  might  be  forced  to  experience  such  illegal  exactions.  Last- 
ly, Edward  IV*s  commercial  policy  deserves  consideration 
since  there  are  those  who  find  in  this  an  explanation  in  part 
of  the  reason  why  the  cause  of  the  Yorkists  found  more  ad- 
herents among  the  townsmen  than  did  their  rivals.^  This 
policy,  generally  speaking,  was  to  favour  the  natives  at  the 
expense  of  foreign  merchants,  a  policy  which  naturally  would 
appeal  to  the  native  merchants  and  the  artisans  in  the  towns. 
Upon  trade  Henry  VI  looked  with  indifference,  and  Margaret 
with  aversion ;  Edward,  on  the  other  hand,  "had  the  instincts 
of  a  merchant,  and  sympathized,  as  much  as  he  could  sympa- 
thize with  anything,  with  the  interests  of  trade."  In  a  procla- 
mation following  his  coronation  on  June  28,  Edward  referred 
to  the  "verrey  decay  of  merchandise  wherein  rested  the  pros- 
perity of  the  subgetts."  Despite  the  fact  that  Edward 
was  a  favourite  with  the  people  of  London  and  the 
great  towns,  Stubbs  questions  whether  the  towns  felt 
any  real  affection  for  the  house  of  York.^  On  the  other 
hand,  one  of  the  chroniclers  states  that  Edward  failed  to  bring 
the  wished  for  peace  and  prosperity  and  was  blamed  by  many 
for  hurting  merchandise.^  '*After  ten  years  of  reign  he  had 
clearly  less  hold  on  the  affections  of  the  country  than  the 
house  of  Lancaster."  Be  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Edward's  protectionist  policy  and  his  program  of  reform 
appealed  to  the  commonalty  and  to  the  trading  classes  of  the 
realm  and  would  have  no  little  weight  in  attaching  these  to 
his  cause.  An  observer  of  foreign  birth  stated :  "I  am  unable 
to  declare  how  well  the  Commons  love  and  adore  him,  as  if 
he  were  their  God."  And  Edward's  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  trading  classes  had  its  reward,  "for  so  moche  as  he  fande 
in  tyme  of  nede  grete  comforth  in  his  comyners."^®  On  the 
whole,  however,  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  for  various 

«  Stubbs,  Const.  Hist.,  Ill,   187. 

^  Cf.  Evans,  Wales  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  pp.  159,  270,  272. 

®  Const.  Hist.,  Ill,  595. 

®Warkworth,  Chronicle,  p.  12. 

10  Cal.  State  Papers,  Ven.,  i,  105. 

6g 


reasons,  the  Yorkists  were  more  bourgeois  in  their  sympathies 
than  were  their  rivals,  cultivating  more  skillfully  the  goodwill 
of  the  townsmen ;  in  consequence  the  cause  of  York  was  more 
popular  with  the  townsmen,  all  things  considered,  than  was 
that  of  Lancaster. 

Though  no  geographical  line  can  be  drawn  separating  the 
towns  which  were  faithful  to  York  from  those  which  favoured 
Lancaster,  a  comparison  may  be  attempted  contrasting  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  magnates  who  supported  the  rival  factions 
with  the  location  of  the  towns  mentioned  above.  It  has  come 
to  be  almost  a  commonplace  of  historians  to  refer  to  the  struggle 
between  Lancaster  and  York  as  one  between  the  more  back- 
ward north  and  west  and  the  more  highly  developed  south  and 
east.^^  Only  in  a  rough  sense  is  this  an  accurate  representa- 
tion of  the  division  of  parties ;  for  while  it  is  true  that  the 
strength  of  the  Lancastrians  lay  in  the  extreme  north  and 
west,  and  York  drew  its  partisans  largely  from  the  south- 
eastern counties  and  the  marches,  yet  the  facts  do  not  warrant 
the  division  of  the  realm  in  so  precise  a  fashion  between  the 
adherents  of  the  two  rival  factions.  More  than  once  allusion 
has  been  made  in  these  pages  to  the  attitude  of  the  nobility 
in  the  different  counties.  It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  to 
consider  the  matter  of  the  distribution  of  the  magnates  again 
in  detail.  There  is  hardly  a  general  statement  which  can  be 
made  in  this  connection  to  which  exceptions  could  not  be  noted. 
For  instance.  The  Yorkists  were  strong  in  the  north,  nor  were 
there  wanting  adherents  of  the  White  Rose  faction  among  the 
magnates  of  the  southwest.  On  the  other  hand,  Margaret  drew 
supporters  from  counties  in  which  a  majority  of  the  lords  were 
Yorkist  in  sympathies.  The  very  fact  that  the  estates  of  the 
great  lords  were  not  compact,  but  were  scattered  in  different 
counties  confuses  the  conflict  and  renders  difficult  an  alignment 
of  parties  corresponding  to  precise  geographical  units.  No 
section  of  England  presents  a  uniform  political  complexion  in 
the  struggle  between  Lancaster  and  York.  To  some  writers 
the  struggle  was  a  war  of  the  more  populous  and  more  ad- 
vanced south  against  the  more  baronial  and  wilder  north ; 
others  represent  the  conflict  as  one  between  the  democratic 

^^  Cf.  Stubbs,  Const.  Hist.,  Ill,  180-181 ;  Oman,  Warwick,  pp.  41,  94; 
Wright,  History  of  Ludlou\  p.  304;  Traill,  Social  England,  II,  313; 
Montague,  Political  History  of  England,  1603-1660,  p.  270. 

70 


>  * 


^  -% 


element  of  the  south  and  the  aristocratic  north.^^  If  the 
facts  do  not  warrant  the  drawing  of  a  hard  and  fast  line  be- 
tween those  portions  of  the  realm  which  sided  with  Lancaster, 
and  those  which  favoured  York,  still  more  is  this  true  in  the 
case  of  the  boroughs.  The  statement  which  has  been  repeated 
by  different  writers  that  the  great  towns  of  the  south  were 
steady  for  the  house  of  York  is  only  partially  true.  For 
as  has  been  shown,  the  party  of  the  Red  Rose  found  warm 
partisans  among  the  burghers  of  some  of  the  southern  cities. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  a  majority  of  the 
townsmen  south  of  the  Trent  espoused  the  cause  of  the  White 
Rose.  Perhaps  the  safest  general  statement  which  can  be 
made, — and  it  is  a  commonplace  one — is  that  the  towns  of  the 
realm  as  a  whole  were  divided  in  their  allegiance,  the  attitude 
of  any  particular  town  being  determined  by  a  variety  of  con- 
siderations. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  permitted  to  summarize  the  results 
which  this  paper  has  attempted  to  establish.  First  of  all,  it 
would  seem  that  the  general  view  that  the  towns  bore  an  in- 
different part  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  must  be  modified  in 
view  of  the  evidence  presented  to  show  that  they  were  far 
more  keenly  interested  in  the  struggle  between  Lancaster  and 
York  than  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  the  case ;  their 
attitude  was  not  actuated  to  such  an  extent  by  motives  of 
self-interest  as  has  been  represented.  Instances  have  been 
given  of  unswerving  loyalty  and  devotion  on  the  part  of  the 
burghers  to  the  party  of  their  choice.  Edward  had  more 
partisans  among  the  class  of  burgesses  than  his  rival  did ;  this 
was  particularly  true  of  the  larger  towns  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  realm.  But  no  line  can  be  drawn  separating  the  bor- 
oughs which  favoured  Lancaster  from  those  which  sided  with 
York.  A  variety  of  motives  has  to  be  taken  into  account  in 
explaining  the  attitude  of  any  particular  town  toward  the 
rival  factions.  Generally  speaking,  it  would  seem  that  the 
desire  for  a  strong  and  settled  government  was  the  prevailing 
motive  with  the  majority  of  the  townsmen  in  determining  them 
to  uphold  the  cause  of  York  rather  than  that  of  Lancaster. 
While  it  may  be  true  that  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  wrought  no 
very  serious  effect  upon  the  national  prosperity  as  a  whole, 

12  Cf.  Lappenberg  und  Pauli,  Geschichte  Englands,  IV,  352. 

71 


the  towns  were  injured,  it  would  seem,  far  more  by  the  civil 
strife  than  has  commonly  been  supposed.  A  number  of  the 
towns  suffered  severely  from  being  sacked  by  one  party  or 
the  other;  the  finances  of  others  were  sadly  impaired;  and 
in  other  ways  they  were  called  upon  to  bear  a  heavy  burden  in 
consequence  of  the  turmoil  of  the  times.  There  are  good  rea- 
sons for  believing  the  plight  of  many  of  the  fifteenth  century 
towns  was  wretched ;  and  in  not  a  few  instances  this  condition 
was  the  result  of  the  disasters  which  overtook  them  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  Naturally  the  great  mass 
of  the  citizens  were  affected  chiefly  by  their  own  class  inter- 
ests. So  far  as  the  bulk  of  the  town  population  of  England 
is  concerned,  their  attitude  toward  the  struggle  between  Lan- 
caster and  York  was  the  same  as  the  feeling  of  the  bulk  of 
American  provincials  toward  the  war  that  their  fellow-coun- 
trymen were  engaged  in  with  the  mother  country.  This  feel- 
ing is  tersely  expressed  in  the  words  of  a  member  of  a  promi- 
nent colonial  Virginia  family:  ''Altho'  our  political  rulers 
may  have  gotten  together  by  the  ears,"  there  is  no  reason  for 
''private  peoples"  joining  in  the  fray.  And  just  as  Robert 
Beverley  wanted  to  fight  on  neither  side,  but  to  stay  at  home 
and  grow  tobacco,  so  the  majority  of  English  traders  and 
artisans  wanted  to  hold  aloof  from  the  faction  fights  which 
distracted  England  in  the  fifteenth  century  and  devote  them- 
selves to  buying  and  selling  and  getting  gain.  But  in  spite  of 
the  desire  to  remain  neutral,  a  number  of  the  boroughs  of  the 
realm  were  drawn  into  the  conflict  between  the  rival  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster;  on  more  than  one  battle-field  the 
representatives  of  the  towns  fought  by  the  side  of  the  feudal 
retainers;  with  their  money  they  aided  the  fortunes  of  the 
cause  they  had  espoused ;  and  more  than  one  town  suffered 
severely  in  consequence  of  its  loyalty. 


^4 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sources.     Manuscript 

MSS.    British  Museum. 

Addit.  5830;  11,334,  15,663,  Collections  for  a  History  of 
Cheshire.    By  F.  Gower. 

25,334,  Collections  for  the  History  of  Ipswich.    By 

W.  Batley. 


counts. 


26,619,  Extracts  from  the  Dover  Corporations  Ac- 

29,780  Ms.  Relative  to  the  City  of  Chester. 
Egerton,  2578. 

Had.     2125,  Chester  Collections.     By  R.  Holme. 
Lansd.  890. 
Stowe,  811.    History  of  Chester. 


Printed  Sources.    General 

Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the  Privy  Council.  Vol.  VI.  Edited 
by  H.  Nicholas  (Record  Comm.,  1834). 

Archaeologia.  Vol.  XXIX.  Published  by  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  Loudon.     1770-1888. 

Arrivall.     See  Historic  of. 

Calendar  of  the  Patent  Rolls,  1446-1452.  Rolls  Series. 
London.  1891,  etc. 

Calendar  State  Papers.  Venetian.  Vol.  I.  1202-1509.  Lon- 
don.   1864. 

Chronicle  (An  English)  of  the  Reigns  of  Richard  II,  Henry 
IV,  Henry  V,  and  Henry  VI.  [1377-1461].  Ed.  J.  S.  Davies, 
Camden  Society.     London,  1856. 

Chronicles  of  the  White  Rose  of  York.  Edited  by  J.  A. 
Giles.    London.    1845. 

Fabyan,  Robert.  The  Chronicles  of  England  and  France. 
Edited  by  Henry  Ellis.    London.     1811. 

Hall,  Edward,  Chronicle  containing  the  History  of  England 
from  Henry  VI  to  Henry  VIII.  Edited  by  Heniy  Ellis.  Lon- 
don.    1809. 

Hist.  Mss.  Comm.    See  Report  of  Mss.  Comm. 

Historiae  Croylandensis  Continuatio.  Edited  by  William 
Fulman,  Rerum  Anglicarum  Scriptores,  pp.  451-593.  Oxford. 
1864. 

Historie  of  the  Arrivall  of  King  Edward  IV  in  England, 
etc.    Edited  by  John  Bruce.    Camden  Society.    London.   1831. 


72 


73 


Original  Letters  Illustrative  of  English  History.  Vol.  I. 
Edited  by  Henry  Ellis.    Rolls  Series.    London.    1824. 

Paston  Letters  (The)  1422-1509.  Vol.  L  Edited  by  James 
Gairdner.    London.     1900. 

Letters  and  Papers  Illustrative  of  the  Wars  of  the  English  in 
France.  Part  II.  Edited  by  Joseph  Stevenson.  Rolls  Series. 
No.  22,     London.     1 861 -1864. 

Patent  Rolls,  1461-1467. 

Political  Songs  and  Poems  Relating  to  English  History. 
Edited  by  Thomas  Wright.  Vols.  I  and  II.  Rolls  Series.  No. 
14.    London.    1859-1861. 

Proceedings.    See  Acts  and  Proceedings. 

Rotuli  Parliamentorum.    Vol.  V.     Record  Commission. 

Royal  Report  on  the  Historical  Manuscripts  Commission. 
Pari.  Papers.    Vols.  V,  IX,  X,  XV.    London.     1870,  etc. 

Three  Fifteenth  Century  Chronicles.  Edited  by  James 
Gairdner.    Camden  Society.    London.     1880. 

Vergil,  Polydore.  English  History.  Camden  Society,  Lon- 
don.    1844. 

Warkworth,  John.  A  Chronicle  of  the  First  Thirteen  Years 
of  the  Reign  of  Edward  IV  (1461-1474).  Edited  by  J.  O. 
Halliwell.     Camden  Society.     London.     1839. 

Waurin,  Jehan  de.  Recueil  des  Chroniques,  etc.,  Vol.  V. 
Edited  by  William  Hardy.     Rolls  Series.     London.    1864-91. 

Whethamstede,  John.  Registrum,  etc.,  Volume  I.  Edited 
by  H.  T.  Riley.    Rolls  Series.    London.    1872. 

White  Rose.     See  Chronicles  of  the. 

William  of  Worcester.  Annales  Rerum  Anglicarum  (ed. 
Joseph  Stevenson).    Rolls  Series.    London.     1864. 


Printed  Sources.    Local. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel.  The  Annalls  of  Ipswiche.  Edited  by 
W.  H.  Richardson.    Ipswich.     1884. 

Bailey,  Thomas.  Annals  of  Nottinghamshire.  Vol.  I.  Lon- 
don (1852- 1 855). 

Boys,  William.  Collections  for  an  History  of  Southamp- 
ton in  Kent.    Canterbury.     1792. 

Calendar  of  the  Shrewsbury  Records.     Shrewsbury.     1896. 

Catalogue  of  the  Royal  Charters  and  other  Documents.  W. 
de  Gray  Birch.     Lincoln.     1906. 

Charters  of  the  Borough  of  Southampton.  Vol.  I.  John- 
Edward  IV  (1 189-1480).  Edited  by  H.  W.  Gidden,  South- 
ampton.    1909. 

Charters  of  Canterbury  (translated).  By  a  Citizen.  (C.  R. 
Bunce).     Canterbury,  1791. 

Charters  of  Colchester.  The  Charters  and  Letters  Patent 
granted  to  the  Borough  by  Richard  I  and  succeeding  Sover- 
eigns.    Edited  by  W.  Gurney  Benham.     Colchester.     1903. 

74 


/-/k 


Charters  and  Grants  to  the  Town  of  Ludlow.  Ludlow  and 
London.     1821. 

Charters  (The)  and  Letters  Patent  Granted  by  the  Kings 
and  Queens  of  England  to  the  Town  and  City  of  Bristol.  By 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Seyer.    Bristol.     1812. 

Chronicle  of  London,  1089- 1483.    London.    1827. 

Chronicles  of  London.  Edited  by  C.  L.  Kingsford.  Oxford. 
1905. 

Chronicle  of  the  Rebellion  in  Lincolnshire,  1470.  Edited 
by  J.  G.  Nichols.     Camden  Society,  Vol.   I.     London.     1847 

Coventry  Leet  Book  (The),  or  Mayor's  Register,  1420- 
1455,  ed.  M.  D.  Harris,  Pt.  IV.  Early  Efig.  Text  Soc.  Lon- 
don, 1913. 

Dover  Charters  and  Other  Documents.  By  Rev.  S.  P.  H. 
Statham.     London.     1902. 

Extracts  from  the  Municipal  Records  of  the  City  of  York. 
By  Robert  Davies.    London.     1843. 

Gregory,  William.  Gregory's  Chronicle,  1 189-1469.  Edited 
by  James  Gairdner,  Historical  Collections  of  a  Citizen  of  Lon- 
don in  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Cafnden  Society.  London. 
1876. 

Little  Red  Book  (The)  of  Bristol.  Edited  by  F.  B.  Bickley. 
Vol.  II.     London  and  Bristol.     1900. 

Maire  (The)  of  Bristowe  is  Kalendar.  By  R.  Ricart.  Ed- 
ited by  L.  T.  Smith.     Camden  Society.     Westminster.     1872. 

Records  of  the  Borough  of  Leicester.  Edited  by  Mary 
Bateson.    Vol.  I.    London.     1899. 

Records  of  the  Borough  of  Northampton. 
Markham.    Vol.  I.    Northampton.     1889. 

Records  of  the  Borough  of  Nottingham. 
Stevenson.     Vol.  III.     London  and  Nottingham.     1882- 1889. 

Records  of  Lydd.    Edited  by  Arthur  Finn.    Lydd.     191 1. 

Red  Paper  Book  (The)  of  Colchester.  Transcribed  and 
Translated  by  W.  G.  Benham.    Colchester.     1902. 

Ricart.     See  Maire  of  Bristowe. 

Royal  Charters  of  the  City  of  Carlisle.  Cumb.  and  West. 
Antiq.  and  Archaeol  Society.  By  R.  S.  Ferguson.  Carlisle 
and  London.     1894. 

Six  Town  Chronicles  of  England.  Edited  by  Ralph  Flenley. 
Oxford.    191 1. 


Edited  by  C.  A. 
Edited  by  H.  W. 


i 


Secondary  Authorities 

Ashley,  W.  J.  An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  His- 
tory and  Theory.    Vol.  11.    London.     1805. 

Bensemann,  W.  Richard  Nevil,  der  Konigmacher,  1428- 
147 1.    Strasburg.     1898. 

Blomefield,  W.     History  of  Norfolk.     Vol.  III.     London. 

75 


1805.  This  writer  tells  us  practically  all  that  we  know  of  the 
political  history  of  Warwick  during  this  period. 

Cotton,  W.,  and  Woolcombe,  H.  Gleanings  from  the  Muni- 
cipal and  Ecclesiastical  Records  of  Exeter.     Exeter.     1897. 

Cromwell,  Thos.  History  of  Colchester.  Vols.  I  and  II. 
London  and  Colchester.     1825. 

Cunningham,  W.  The  Growth  of  English  Industry  and 
Commerce.    Vols.  I  and  II.     1907. 

Davies,  J.  S.    History  of  Southampton.   Southampton.   1883. 

Drakard,  John.  The  History  of  Stamford  in  the  County  of 
Lincoln.    Vol.  IV.    Lincoln.     1882. 

Drake,  F.  Eboracum:  or  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
City  of  York.    London.     1736. 

Evans,  H.  T.  Wales  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  Cam- 
bridge.   1915. 

Green,  J.  R.    History  of  the  English  People.    Vol.  II.    New 

York.     1894. 

Green,  Mrs.  J.  R.     Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

Vols.  I  and  II.     London.     1894. 

Gneist,  R.  History  of  the  English  Constitution.  (Trans- 
lated by  P.  A.  Ashworth).    London.     1891. 

Gross,  C.    The  Gild  ^Merchant.    Vol.  I.    Oxford.     1890. 

Jenkins,  A.  The  History  and  Description  of  the  City  and  its 
Environs.     Exeter  and  London.     1896. 

Harris,  Mary  D.    Life  in  an  Old  English  Town.     London. 

1897. 

Harris,  Mary  D.  The  Story  of  Coventry.  London  and 
New  York.  I9n.  The  history  of  Coventry  during  this  period 
has  been  fully  described  in  this  interesting  little  volume. 

Kelly.  William.  Royal  Progresses  and  Visits  to  Leicester. 
Leicester.     1884. 

Merewether,  H.  A.,  and  Stephens,  A.  J.  History  of  the 
Boroughs  and  Corporations  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Vol.  II. 
London.     1835. 

Morris,  R.  H.  Chester  during  the  Plantagenet  and  Tudor 
Reigns.    Chester.     1893. 

Nichols,  J.  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Leices- 
ter.   Vol.  L    London.    181 5. 

Nichols,  J.  F.,  and  Taylor,  J.  Bristol,  Past  and  Present. 
Vol.  I.     Bristol.     1881. 

Oliver,  H.     History  of  the  City  of  Exeter.     Exeter.     1821. 

Oman,  C.  W\     Warwick,  the  Kingmaker.     London.     1891. 

Owen,  H.,  and  Blakeway,  J.  B.  History  of  Shrewsbury. 
Vol.  I.    London.  1825. 

Poulson,  G.  Beverlac:  or  the  Antiquities  and  History  of 
the  Town  of  Beverley  in  the  County  of  York.    London.     1829. 

Rogers,  W.  H.  H.  The  Strife  of  the  Roses  and  the  Days 
of  the  Tudors.    Exeter.     1890. 


^ 


i-    i 


*   ^i 


^        \         ^ 


Seyer,  S.  Memoirs,  Historical  and  Topographical,  of  Bristol 
and  its  Neighbourhood.     Vol.  II.     Bristol.     1832. 

Sharpe,  R.  R.  London  and  the  Kingdom.  Vol.  I.  London. 
1894. 

Statham,  S.  P.  H.  History  of  the  Castle,  Town,  and  Port 
of  Dover.    London.    1899. 

Stubbs,  W.  The  Constitutional  History  of  England.  Vol. 
III.    Oxford.     1897. 

Sympson,  E.  Manuel.    Lincoln.    London.     1906. 

Thompson,  J.  The  History  of  Leicester.  Leicester  and 
London,  1849. 

Traill,  H.  D.  Editor.  Social  England.  Vol.  II.  London, 
etc.     1894. 

Vickers,  K.  H.  England  in  the  Later  Middle  Ages.  Lon- 
don.    1913. 

Whitby,  T.  W.    Parliamentary  Representation  of  the  City  of 

Coventry.    Coventry.     1894. 

Wright,  T.  The  History  of  Ludlow  and  its  Neighbourhood. 
Ludlow.     1852. 


76 


77 


INDEX 


l\ 


\ 


Alnwick,   captured  by  Margaret,  4. 

Bamborough,  captured  by  Margaret  4;  by  tbe  Yorkists.  37- 

Beverley,   influenced   by   neighbouring   magnates,    59,   60;    upholds    the 

party  of   Lancaster,  60,  61 ;   intercourse   with   Lancastrian   lords, 

60;  compelled  to  aid  Edward,  61. 
"Bloody  Oaks",  battle  of,  64. 
Blore  Heath,  battle  of,  63. 
Boroughs.     See  Towns. 

Bridport,  65.  •  •     ,    1       -»«• 

Bristol,  history  of  during  the  period,  18;  visited  by  Margaret,  19; 
citizens  are  punished  by  Edward  for  aiding  Lancastrians,  19; 
receives  Edward,  20;  aids  his  cause  at  Towion,  20;  city  compara- 
tively free  from  civil  strife,  28-29. 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  influences  Coventry  in  behalf  of  Lancaster, 
22-23. 

Cade,  Jack,  supported  by  the  corporate  towns,  5.  ... 

Canterbury  citizens  actively  concerned  in  politics  of  the  time,  49; 
gifts'  to  prominent  personages.  50:  ratification  of  charter  by 
Edward,  50;  aid  rendered  both  factions,  50-51 1  account  of  Lan- 
castrian  faction,  51-52. 

Canynges,  William,   18;   loyal  to  Yorkist  cause,  20-21,  34. 

Carlisle,  besieged  by  Scots,  12. 

Chester,  intimate  relations  with  Margaret,  63. 

Cheshire,  contains  adherents  of  Lancaster,  63. 

Cinque  Ports,  friendly  to  Cade  and  to  Edward,  53;  granted  a  diarter 
by  Edward,  55;  ally  themselves  with  Warwick  against  Edward, 
55;  reasons  for  deserting  Henry  VI,  57. 

Clarence,  Duke  of,  40,  56-57-  ...  •  in 

Colchester,  takes  no  active  part  in  civil  strife.  31 ;  receives  a  valuable 
grant  from  Edward.  32;  influence  of  great  families  m,  32. 

Cornwall,  attitude  of  landholders  of,  39- 

Courtcnay,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Devonshire,  hostile  to  Exeter,  39. 

Coventry,  citizens  support  the  cause  of  Lancaster,  22;  desert  Lancaster, 
23;  aid  Edward  wdth  money  and  troops.  23-24;  courted  by  Ed- 
ward and  Warwick,  24;  pursue  a  temporizing  policy,  24;  support 
Warwick  against  Edward,  25 ;  punished  by  Edward  for  dis- 
loyalty, 25;  harm  to  city  as  a  result  of  being  drawn  into  civil 
strife,  26. 

Devonshire,  attitude  of  men  of,  39- 

Dover,  active  in  politics  of  the  time,  54;  payments   tor  various  pur- 
poses, 55. 
Dunstanborough,  12. 

Edward  IV,  receives  support  of  the  towns,  4;  grants  charters  to  same, 
5;  supported  by  London,  8;  accepted  as  king  by  commonalty  of, 
8-9;  grants  charter  to,  9;  favoured  by  larger  towns,  10;  grants 
charter  to  York,  11;  visits  the  city,  12,  15:  aided  by  authorities 
of,  12;  intercourse  with  citizens  of,  13;  reasons  for  popularity 
with  class  of  burghers,  13,  69;  punishes  citizens  of  Bristol  for 
aiding  Lancaster,  19;  grants  charter  to  citizens  of,  20-21:  exerts 

79 


pressure  upon  Norwich,  2-7;  grants  a  charter  to  city,  28;  confers 
privileges  upon  Lincohi,  30;  makes  vaUiable  grant  to  Colchester 
32;  grants  a  charter  to  Southampton,  33-34".  confirms  charter  of 
Newcastle,  35;  makes  grants  to  Exeter,  40;  grams  charters  to 
Leicester,  44-45;  grants  a  charter  to  Cinque  Ports,  55;  seizes 
liberties  of  Dover,  56;  his  commercial  policy,  69. 
Exeter,  attitude  of  citizens  of,  39;  receives  William,  Lord  Bonville,  39; 
citizens  aid  Margaret  with  money  and  troops,  40;  intercourse 
with  Edward,  40-41- 

Faiconbridgc.  attacks  London,  9. 

Faunt,  Nicholas,  aids  party  of  Lancaster,  51-52. 

Gloucester.  Richard,  Duke  of,  popular  in  York,  13;  referred  to,  -i^. 
Gloucester,  attitude  of  men  of,  38. 
Grantham,  24,  64. 

Hanson.  Richard,  mavor  of  Hull,  loyal  to  Lancaster,  z6. 

Hastings.   William,   Lord,   cultivates   friendship  of  York,   14;   intluence 

with  men  of  Leicester,  44,  46. 
Henry   IV,  grants   privileges  to    Lincoln,   31 ;    deprives   Colchester   of 

privileges,  31. 
Henry  VI,   writes  to   citizens  of   York,    11;    rewards   Coventry   for   its 
'  lovalty.  22\  renews  charter  of  Exeter,  39:  summons  his  supporters 

to' Leicester,  43:  grants  Northampton  a  charter,  59;  instabiUty  of 

his  government,  67-69. 
Henry  \'III.  description  of  towns  in  time  of,  34- 
Hereford,  negligible  influence  in  civil  strife,  47. 
Herefordshire,  attitude  of.  46. 
Hull,  devotedly  loyal  to  Henry  VI,  36-38;  grants  received   from  this 

monarch,  36. 

Ipswich,  upholds  the  Yorkist  cause,  58. 

John,  attitude  of  towns  towards,  2. 

Kent,  espouses  the  cause  of  York,  49. 
King's  Lynn,  65. 

Leicester,  attitude  of,  43-44;  evinces  partiality  for  Edward,  44;  re- 
warded by  Edward.  44-45;  men  of,  aid  Edward  at  Towton,  45. 

Leicestershire,  divided  in  allegiance  of,  43. 

Lincoln,  probably  hostile  to  Edward,  30;  receives  privileges  from,  30; 
decay  of  during  15th  century,  31. 

Lincolnshire,  region  hostile  to  Edward,  30. 

London,  attitude  of  in  former  civil  wars,  7;  divided  in  its  allegiance 
between  Lancaster  and  York,  7;  aids  Yorkist  cause,  8;  fears 
Queen  Margaret's  army,  8;  receives  Edward  as  king,  8-9;  aids 
him  with  troops,  9;  rewarded  by  Edward.  9;   population  of,   10. 

Ludlow,  loyal  to  Yorkists,  61-62;  ravaged  by  Lancastrians,  62; 
granted  a  charter  by  Edward,  62. 

Lydd,  incurs  heavy  expenses  for  Yorkists,  54. 

Margaret  of  Anjou.  cultivates  the  citizens  of  Bristol,  19;  moves  the 
Court  to  Coventry,  22 ;  visits  Norwich,  25 ;  refused  admission 
into  Gloucester,  38;  cultivates   friendship  of   Chester,  62. 

May,  Henry,  adherent  of  house  of  Lancaster,  19. 

Mede,  Philip,  a  zealous  Yorkist,  20-21. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  mentioned  in  connection   with  towns,  2. 

Neville,  George.  Archbishop  of  York,  60. 

Newbury,  declares  for  the  Duke  of  York,  65;  ravaged  by  troops  of 
Margaret,  65.    • 

80 


■\. 


/^ 


"1 

I 


K 


♦, 


*     J 


Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  history  of  during  period,  35. 

New  Romney,  in  Cade's  rebellion,  6;  relations  with  \orkist  leaders,  54; 

sides  with  Warwick  against  Edward,  57. 
Northampton,  represented  at  Towton,  59. 
Northamptonshire,  attitude  of  lords  of,  59. 
Norfolk,  county  of,  attitude  towards  civil  conflict,  26. 
Norwich,  account  of  during  the  period,  26;  contributes  money  to  Henry 

VI,  27;  charter  granted  to  by  Henry  VI,  2-/ \  compelled  to  support 

Edward,  27;  receives  a  charter  from  Edward.  28. 
Nottingham,  participation  in  civil  strife,  41 ;   renders  Edward  effective 

aid,  42. 
Nottinghamshire,  attitude  of,  41- 

Pembroke,  Jasper,  Earl  of,  20-21. 

Percy,  Henry,  third  Earl  of  Northumberland,  40,  60. 

Pontefract,  13. 

Ravenspur,  15. 
Rookwood,  William,  2^, 

Sandwich,  gifts  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  56. 

Shipward,  John,  a  zealous  Yorkist,  20. 

Shrewsbury,  loyal  to  the  Yorkist  cause,  47-48. 

Somerset,  Duke  of,  at  Bristol,  19;  at  Exeter,  40. 

Somersetshire,  attitude  of  landholders  of,  39. 

Southampton,  ruin  of  city  finances,  33 ;  receives  a  grant  from  Edward, 

33-34;  reasons  for  supporting  Yorkist  cause,  34. 
Suffolk,  Duke  of,  influence  of,  36. 
Stamford,  ravaged  by  Lancastrians,  64;  supports  Edwards,  64;  reasons 

for  siding  with  Yorkists,  64. 

Tadcaster,  15. 

Towton,  commons  engaged  at,  3,  66.  . 

Towns,  alleged  attitude  in  Wars  of  Roses,  1-2;  reasons  for  assuming 
a  cautious  attitude,  2,  3 ;  loyalty  to  rival  factions,  3 ;  courted  by 
the  two  parties,  4;  population  of,  10,  32;  estimate  of  influence 
of  leading  towns  in  civil  strife,  28-29;  growth  and  decay  of,  Zl\ 
unmerited  criticism  of,  42;  share  in  civil  war,  underrated,  66,  71; 
majority  of  townsmen  favour  York,  67;  alienated  from  Margaret 
by  conduct  of  her  troops,  68;  taxed  by  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  69; 
divided  in  their  allegiance,  70,  71;  suffer  severely  as  a  result  of 
the  civil  conflict,  ^2\  desire  to  remain  neutral,  ']2. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  relations  with  York,  12;  relations  with  Coventry, 
23-26;  influence  in  the  Midlands,  23,  46;  in  rebellion  against 
Edward,  40,  42;  popular  with  Kentishmen,  49;  favourite  with 
Cinque    Ports,    53;    defeats    Spaniards,    53;    joined    by    men    of 

Cinque  Ports,  54.  55,  56-57- 
Warwickshire,  attitude  of  county  toward  civil  strife,  21. 
Waynflete,  William,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  a   Lancastrian  adherent.  48. 
Wenlock,  65. 
Wihshire,  Earl  of,  65. 

Winchester,  decay  of,  48;  loyal  to  Henry  VI,  48-49. 
Worcester,  represented  at  Towton,  46. 
Worcester,  Earl  of,  47. 
Worcestershire,  attitude  of,  46. 

Yonge,  Thomas,  a  Yorkist,  18-19. 

Yonge,  John,  18. 

York,  Henry  VI  seeks  goodwill  of,  11;  Edwards  grant  to,  li;  sup- 
ports the  Earl  of  W^arwack,  12;  receives  Edward,  12,  15,  16; 
consults  him  as  to  government  of  city,  13;  reasons  for  support  of 

81 


Yorkists,  13;  friendly  to  Lord  Hastings,  14;  deserts  Henry  VI 
for  Edward,  14;  a  centre  for  Lancastrians,  14;  citizens'  account 
of  their  share  in  civil  broils,  17;  rival  factions  in,   17. 

York,  Duke  of.  solicits  aid  of  townsmen,  4;  connection  with  Cade's 
rebels,  5;  on  friendly  terms  with  Londoners,  28;  relations  with 
Shrewsbury,  47;  lord  of  Stamford,  64. 

Yorkshire,  attitude  of  great  families  of,  13. 


\ 


L  i 


m 


82 


DUE  DATE 

.     ^JU 

l2i198^ 

« 

1 

I 

1 

i 

i 

■ 

i 

f 

201-6503 

Printed 
in  USA 

(A 

UJ 


ru  3 


IT  S 

m  5 
m  => 


■(NJ 


A' 


r> 


^Sft 


no^. 


M  .^1 


iL 

Ir 

'1 

w^ 

^»?^ 


II 


